The Max Reaper: Death and New Life
by shinigamiConnections
Summary: Max is dead! Well, not exactly, she can still save the world, just in a different way. But...How do shinigami, hollows, a perverted plushie and Iggy come into this? Max/Ichigo, Iggy/Rukia
1. Death

**Post-MAX**

**I'm doing this for absolutely no reason at all! Still unsure who I'll pair Max with, but it'll be somebody!**

**Disclaimer: Seriously?**

"Oh, crap..." I muttered, making a face as I stared down at my body, the flock gathered around it, as well as some locals asking if I was alright. Obviously not, I'm dead!

"Max?" Asked a voice, I saw Iggy staring at me, or my forehead. Everyone else was fussing over the other part of me on the ground.

"Iggy, you can- Eep!" I gasped as I saw a hand go through me, touching the shoulder of someone as they looked at my body in horror.

"Max, what happened to you?" Iggy asked.

"Ig, she's dead." Nudge said, sobbing.

He shook his head, unbelieving, "No, she's right there." He said, pointing at me, Gazzy and Fang turned to stare at me.

"Iggy, I don't see anything." Gaz informed him.

I jumped up and down, trying to get someones attention. "Come on! I'm right here! Why can only Iggy see that?" I saw Iggy roll his eyes slightly at my comment.

"Neither do I, Iggy. Max isn't over there, she's on the ground and dead," Fang said, his voice strangled, it was as if I wasn't even there...

Okay, maybe to them I wasn't, but it was still damn offensive to be ignored that much.

Alright, that was just irritating, "Hello! May be dead but I can still hear you!" I huffed.

"But...I could swear I can hear her voice, it's like a whisper."

"I AM NOT WHISPERING, IGGY!" I yelled, stomping over and trying to whack the boy over the head, my hand passed through him, making him shiver slightly.

"What was that?" Gaz asked.

"I dunno, I just feel like I can feel her standing here."

"She isn't we have to go." Said Fang, standing up, a sobbing Angel and Nudge on each side of him.

"Fang, for the love of god I will come back from the dead and kill you if you don't listen to me now!" I yelled, before my plan could be put into action, though, a piercing howl practically shook the street.

"What the hell?" I yelled to nobody in particular, whirling around to see a freaky monster type thing staring at me. It swung a car-sized fist at me, causing me to jump backwards. It swung again, I kicked the fist, hearing a crack in my foot and it's fist.

It howled in pain before regaining its composure. "Oh, I scored a feisty one, ne? Well, it's good I like a challenging meal." It said with a chuckle, I turned and ran the other way.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP! My heart pounded in my ears, in time with the beast's heavy footsteps as he chased me around town. Wait...heartbeat? Wasn't that meant to have stopped by now?

After about half an hour of blind running, I decided to test my wings, hallelujah, they worked even in death, apparently. I swooped high, away from the frustrated monster-thing (I've gotta think of a name for them) and breathed a sigh of relief, only to groan when the sky got torn open to reveal three bigger, uglier monsters, all snarling at me.

I froze, nimbly dodging a meaty fist, jumping away from a limb resembling a foot, but crashing into another fist.

"S_ōten Ni Zase, Hyorinmaru!" _Someone called; I jumped away from a blur of a kid slicing at the monsters. He held a sword, jumping around rather gracefully and slashing through the things with ease. I gaped at the white haired boy for a while, the bodies disintegrating in front of him as he stood, his back to me. I gaped, how could this kid do that? I was two heads taller than him and I got knocked around. (In my defence, you'd be pretty out of whack if you had just died)

After a while, he turned to look at me, his teal eyes darted to my wings, still beating. He started to say something but I turned and flew off, to his protest.

"What the hell is going on in this town?" I cried, throwing my hands in and shaking my head.

After a while of circling the Japanese town, I decided to land. I touched down in an alley (Old habits die hard, unlike me) with one store, nobody was around...

"Hm..."

I swung around, my fists clenched at the sound of footsteps. All I found was some guy in clogs and the most ridiculous hat, holding a fan and a cane.

"What do we have here?" He asked idly, grinning like an idiot.

"Oh, crap..." I muttered for the second time that day.

And I was hit on the head by his cane.

**What do you think? Any suggestions for the pairings? Anything at all?**

**Anyway, I'm gonna try and update this often, because what else is there to do? (Homework? Nah!)**

**Press the pretty button!**

**-Shinigami**


	2. Red Heads, Big Kids, and Fainting?

**So here it is; Chapter two!**

**Disclaimer: I have nowhere near the talents of Tite Kubo or James Patterson, but I can dream.**

I groaned, my surroundings blurry for a few moments before I sat up, rubbing the sore spot between my eyes. The first thing I noticed was that my flock was nowhere to seen; all maternal instincts I honed over the years kicked in as I jumped off the bed I had been in.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Someone behind me chuckled and I swung around, throwing my fist out. Only to have it stopped by the hilt of some sword.

"And who're you?" He asked, I cocked my head to the side, inspecting the guy in dark robes. He had the same stuff as that white haired kid from before, except for no white over-coat...thing, with blood red hair and tattoos...everywhere, who the hell was he?

"Where am I?" I asked, bringing my hand back to my side.

"Urahara Shōten, you still haven't answered my question."

"Because I don't want to," I shot back, he sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Let's try this again; Hi, I'm Abarai Renji, you are?" He asked, I sighed. This guy, no matter how buff and tattooed, was becoming a pain in the ass.

"Ride...Max; where's that guy who poked me in the head?" I asked, my name sounded weird backwards, but I was getting used to it.

"You mean Kisuke-San? He's-,"

"Ah, you're finally awake, I see!" Greeted a cheerful voice. We turned to see the irritating man with a bucket hat waving us over. "Why don't we have some tea?"

"Why am I here?" I asked, sitting down on a cushion. He handed me a small cup and filled it.

"Because I knocked you out. If you were referring to why I did that, I wanted to take a look at those fascinating wings of yours," He said casually, I glared at him. "Did you have them in your human life?"

"Why should I tell you?" I shot back, he sighed.

"So that's a yes. Now, what shall we do with you?" He pondered, my hands balled into fists. What was with this idiot?

"You can let me go?" I suggested.

"Puh-leez," He said with a wave of his hand... Was he gay? "You're a soul, something has to be done to you, and you're just too special to pass up."

"I don't like that sound of that," I muttered.

"So, let's start off with the basics: What's your name?"

"Ride...Max..."

"What age are you?"

"Uh, sixteen..."

"And what was your cause of death?"

"I don't remember..."

"Hm, how long have you been a soul?"

"That depends on how long you knocked me out for."

"A day."

"A DAY?" I bellowed, standing up. 'Kisuke' looked up from his notes, quirking an eyebrow. "I gotta go find the flock." I muttered, turning and heading outside.

"Where're you going?" Renji called, barrelling after me. I snapped my wings out and ran a few feet, before jumping into the air. Ah, yes, sweet freedom! The feeling of wind blowing my hair around and—

"Oof!"

-the feeling of crashing into someone? Who flies around in the air these days? Oh... right.

Anyway, we started falling in a tangle of limbs, landing on the ground with a grunt from both of us. I sat up, looking around.

"Get off me!" My mattress grumbled, I looked down and gawked. I was sitting on the white haired midget from before.

"H-Hitsugaya-taichou!" Renji called, running over. I stood up and offered him a helping hand, which he brushed away and stood by himself. _Well, aren't you a big kid, now? _I thought bitterly, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Abarai, why was the winged soul escaping?" He asked, turning to the red head running over.

"Uh, she... caught me off guard, Sir." He said, I quirked an eyebrow.

He huffed, turning away from both of us. "Urahara! Why has nobody preformed konsō?" He yelled, Kisuke strolled outside with a smile.

"Eh, because she has wings, Taichou." He called back, my eye twitched. Okay, I can handle some things, but being treated like I'm not there is just annoying.

"What's konsō?" I asked, folding my arms.

"Never mind that, we should pay a visit to Kurosaki and the others." The white haired midget of self worship, now I was really confused.

"Hm, I was going there soon." Renji added.

"Will somebody _please_ just tell me what's going on?" I yelled, balling my hands into fists.

The three turned to me, each looking baffled by my outburst. "We're taking you to some people who live here." Renji said slowly.

"...why?"

"They're freaks, just like you," Kisuke said simply.

"Well, it's good to know I'm not alone," I muttered sarcastically.

"Let's just go, already." 'Hitsugaya' said finally, they jumped into the air; I followed after a moment of surprise.

We flew for no more than ten minutes before we stopped in front of a high school classroom's window. A few people inside looked over, before going back to work, but one guy with hair rivalling an orange glow stick nearly fell over at the sight of us. He stood up, knocking his chair over, and ran out of class, a dark haired girl racing after him.

They met us on the roof a few minutes later, panting.

"What's going on, you guys showing up like this?" Asked the tall-ish guy; he caught his breath enough to frown at Hitsugaya, Renji and I.

"We need to speak with you and the others, it would be best if you got them now," Hitsugaya instructed, sitting down.

"Now-?"

"Kurosaki-Kun!" Someone called, and two more people joined our little gathering; A huge, tan guy and a... let's go with busty, girl.

"Who are you?" Asked the girl, I frowned at her.

"This is why we're here." Hitsugaya said, waving a hand in my direction. "This is-,"

"-Chopped liver." I ended for him, scowling. There was a snort from Renji and Carrot top.

"-Ride Max, she's an odd soul."

"Odd, how?" Asked The dark haired girl.

"I have wings," I said, freeing said wings from behind my back. There was a collective gasp through them.

_Thunk! _We all turned to see the red haired girl on the ground... unconscious?

Well, so much for good first impressions.

**AH! I'm surprised I actually got readers and reviews! Thank you thank you thank you!**

**After much time in deep thought, I have decided...!**

**I'm still stuck on the pairing. I'm probably going to end up playing Inky Pinky Ponky or ****Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe to decide. **

**To my lovely reviewers:**

_**WingedHero540: Thank you, I'm so glad you like the idea. Renji is a definite possibility!**_

_**Tacos Rule 4 Life: Ichigo/Max would also be great, they'd be a very powerful couple, yes? Tacos are awesome.**_

_**useless knowledge: Ah! I'm sorry for not updating sooner! And thank you for the suggestion, I'll try to take that advice.**_

_**Kayla: Two words can mean so much! No sarcasm intended, thank you!**_

_**Aisu Ai: Ah ha! I love that idea!**_

**I'm done! That's it!**

**-Shinigami**


	3. Explainations

**HELLO!**

**I'm posting this really quickly because my internet is being annoying.**

**Disclaimer: Yes, because I'm TOTALLY Kubo and Patterson's lovechild, therefore having ownership. **

I looked around, my brow furrowed in thought. Somehow, after causing the new Red Haired Wonder to collapse, our group of seven wound up in Ichigo's house. They'd introduced themselves along the way, of course.

It was... strange to see a teenage boy's room (Or any boy's room, from my experience) so clean without me having to threaten said boy into tidying up first. Although they were messy, I don't think Iggy, Gazzy or Fang had talking lion dolls in their room.

"Nee-San!" The little... thing, yelled when we entered; flying at Rukia. She kicked him into the wall, shaking her head and sitting on the floor.

"Uh... I've seen a lot of freaky stuff in my life, but what the hell was that?" I asked carefully, pointing. The thing sat up and looked at me; I swear on my grave (If I got one) there were stars in its eyes before it ran at me.

"Ah, heavenly mountains!" It yelled, I side-stepped the perverted doll and Ichigo threw it into the closet.

"Sorry about that, he's Kon," The red head apologised, rubbing the back of his head.

"Kon is a mod soul, he stays in the lion doll's body until Ichigo needs him," Rukia continued.

_Thump, Thump! _"I resent that! I'm not a doll!" He called from the closet.

"So what are we going to do with her?" Questioned Renji; he pointed at Orihime, who was still asleep on Ichigo's bed.

"I guess we can't really do anything until she wakes up."

"Why not?" I asked innocently, in my experience, girls that faint easily aren't that much help to me.  
They looked at each other, before I remembered a question I wanted to ask. "And more importantly, why do you have swords?"

They looked at each other again... "We're shinigami."

"..."

"..."

"That's a good one, Ichigo. Now tell me the real reason."

"Huh? B-But that is the real reason!"

"Kurosaki, she doesn't know what shinigami are," Hitsugaya said with a sigh. "She barely knows about hollows."

"You've lost me..." I announced.

"You better sit down for this, Max," Renji advised; I joined the circle hesitantly, and prepared myself.

**_One hour later_**

"Wh-What happened?" Asked a voice, we all looked up to see Orihime sitting up on Ichigo's bed.

"You're up, finally," Renji sighed; I slumped against the wall, exhausted. One hour of news about shinigami and the Soul Society and hollows and freaking zanpakutōs really drained me.

"Inoue, you fainted," Ichigo explained.

"O-Oh, that's right!" _...Ah, yes, we have a genius among us. _

I jumped into the air when there was a knock at the door, my chain jingling lightly.

Ichigo looked up, surprised. "Who is it?"

"It's Karin, can I come in?" Called a young voice; it was probably his little sister.

"Uh, gimme a second," He replied, grabbing me and pulling me over to the bed, shoving me under the mattress and frame. I peeked out to see Renji and Hitsugaya had disappeared, too.

"You can come in now!"

The door opened, a frowning, dark haired girl walked in. I felt a small pang in my chest, she could have passed for Fang's younger sister, maybe a little paler, but especially with her eyebrows pulled together in concentration you'd never notice the difference.

"Yuzu's done with dinner. There's enough for everyone," She announced, her eyes scanning the room suspiciously.

"Okay, we'll be down in a minute- Is something wrong?"

"...Something just feels...off, in here."

Ichigo laughed nervously. "What are you talking about, did you head butt the soccer ball too hard at practice?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just hurry up," She sighed, turning around and closing the door behind her.

I climbed out from under the bed after a moment. "We get dinner?" I said hopefully.

"You don't, you have to stay here." He said.

"What? But I'm hungry! I need calories." I argued, folding my arms.

"I'll bring some up later, just stay here. Karin will ask questions if you show up in the middle of the meal demanding food."

"Oh, I get it. You haven't told her about the whole shinigami thing, have you?"

He bit his lip.

"Guys, hurry up!" Karin's muffled voice yelled.

"Ichigo, I should be going," Commented Chad, standing up. "It was nice to meet you, Max-San."

"Nice to meet you, too," I said, he nodded and walked out, followed by the others. I fell onto Ichigo's bed with a heavy sigh.

After half an hour, they trudged back upstairs. I scowled at the group. "It's about time," I said, Ichigo rolled his eyes and passed me a plate of food.

I wolfed it down quickly as they talked idly.

"So..." I said, placing the empty dish on the desk. "I'm guessing there's a chance that the hollows will come for me again?"

"It's a possibility, they were probably attracted to your reaitsu, it's higher than the average Plus reaitsu." Rukia said, tapping her chin.

"Even Karin-Chan noticed it." Orihime observed.

"So where does that leave me?"

"In danger," We jumped, looking to the window to find the midget seated there. "We have to get back to Urahara's."

"But-"

_CRASH!_

Before Ichigo could even get the protest out, the wall caved in on us. I dived out of the way from the falling rubble, pulling Rukia and Hitsugaya –the closest to me- out of the way. My ears were filled with howls, just like after I died.

I covered my ears, looking around. "It's a menos!" Hitsugaya yelled, pulling me to my feet.

"A menos, you mean-?"

"Exactly!"  
I looked around, mostly at the huge hole in Ichigo's wall. After a moment, I saw Ichigo pop out from under part of the roof. He coughed and spluttered.

"You guys okay?" He asked, standing up and brushing himself off.

"Well, I- Aah!" I cut myself off suddenly with a scream as I was lifted up and thrown into another wall by the hollow.

"Max!"

A dash of orange obscured my vision as what felt like Ichigo helped me up. I caught sight of the huge thing and made a face.

"You okay?" Ichigo asked me; I nodded, taking a few unsure steps, before letting go of the red head's arm.

"I'm fine," I assured him, he nodded and _popped out of his body._

If we weren't in a potentially life-or-death situation, I would have been a little more freaked out. But as there was a huge freak monster destroying a house, I thought it was best to wait.

"_Getsuga Tenshō_!" He cried, swinging his huge cleaver-like sword at the hollow, a blast of...energy or _something_, shot out from the blade, hitting the howling thing head on.

It hollered and thrashed, swinging wildly at Ichigo and Hitsugaya, who both jumped out of the room and sliced through the hollow's bone white mask. I watched, wide eyed, as it slowly disintegrated before my eyes.

Wow, déjà vu.

"As I was saying, we have to get back to Urahara's. He is opening the Senkaimon for us as we speak," Hitsugaya said, sheathing his zanpakutō.

"Why?"

"Because," He sighed, rubbing his temples, "Yamamoto-Sotaichou wants to meet Max."

Well, I feel important.

**I think I've decided on the pairing. Ichigo/Max seems to be the winner. Though, I will add in slight Hitsugaya/Max, because that is just too hard to resist. Also, Orihime will get in the way... And Max will not like her one bit for it. **

**If you do have any HUGE objections to this pairing... *cough*get over it*cough*, or send me a PM.**

**To the ever so lovely reviewers:**

_**WingedHero540: I do enjoy random fainting :D, I'm sorry I can't add Renji into the main pairing, but I will match him up! Nobody wants a lonely Renji.**_

_**useless knowledge: I'm glad to see enthusiastic reviews! I will try to update quicker, but I'm sort of juggling right now. BTW your story rocks!**_

_**MorganBanner: Thanks for the tips. I do rush these sometimes and don't look as closely at the grammar as I could, so it's good to have someone point it out to me. From now on, I'll try to keep it as close to perfect as possible, but I am human.**_

_**Sam1021/NocturnalBeast: Thank you for your review! I'm trying to set the plot line probably in the gap between the end of the Bount Arc (Anime) and the start of the Arrancar Arc. Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, etc will most likely show up later on.**_

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	4. Chains, Iggy and the SOUL SOCIETY

**Hey there, how's it going? I have once again updated, huzzah!**

**Disclaimer: Maximum Ride is not mine, Bleach is not mine; if this changes, I'll alert the media.**

So, as far as I was concerned, this is what was going on.

I was dying. Again!

It had only been ten minutes after hearing that the boss of all bosses wanted to meet me that I came to this conclusion. Ichigo had come up with a last-minute excuse for leaving the house, and we had started walking to the Shōten. I _had _been slightly irritated they wouldn't let me fly ahead, but I was kind of thankful someone that knew what was happening was around. I felt like someone had shoved a red hot lump of coal through the skin of my chest.

So, like any normal person (even if I's not all that normal), I fell to my knees screaming bloody murder.

"Eh? Max!"

"What's happening to her?" Asked Hitsugaya; I felt Rukia touch my shoulder delicately, almost as if she was unsure what I'd do.

"Her soul chain is corroding," Ichigo announced, crouching in front of me as I sucked laboured breaths through my clenched teeth.

"What the hell does that mean?" I hissed, he held up my 'soul chain', the end links were eating themselves away, as if they had minds of their own.

"Why is it already corroding, though? A soul chain should last months, even years before it starts disappearing," Rukia wondered out loud.

Orihime spoke up, standing behind Ichigo, "Will Urahara-San know what's going on with her?" She peaked over his shoulder at me, looking between pitying and disgusted. I glared openly at her.

"Possibly, it would be best if we got her there as soon as possible," Hitsugaya mused, "Can you still walk?"

I huffed, pushing myself off the ground, nodding. "I'm fine," I said firmly; the burning sensation in my chest had lessened, but it was still there, like a pot of boiling water set to simmer.

"You still better take it easy, recovering from the first corrosion is the hardest," Advised Ichigo.

"How would you kno-Oh!" I gasped, pausing mid-question when my feet left the ground. This is an everyday thing for me, being off the ground, but rarely am I ever being held up. "Let me down, Strawberry! I can walk, you know!" I said, thrashing in his arms.

He shrugged, not responding as he slung me over his back, I grabbed his shoulders for support, not particularly wanting to slip off the surprisingly tall boy's back.

"Let's get going already," Hitsugaya sighed, leading our 'group' through the streets. It was the evening, so not many people were still outside, and if they were, they simply rushed by, eager to get home.

"Hey, Ichigo... Why don't people realize we're here? I get the whole spirit form thing, but they don't even flinch when they walk through me."

Ichigo shrugged slightly, holding my knees a little tighter when we were hit by a gust of cool wind. "I guess they don't have much reiatsu, so they don't feel anything."

"How many people can sense spirits in Karakura?"

"That I know of? Only a handful, they go to my school, and there's Karin. Other than that, I don't know."

"I see..."

"Max? Max!" Someone shouted, we stopped outside an alleyway, my eyes picked up some shadows moving around.

"Iggy, are you okay?"

"Nudge?" I whispered, squinting to see better.

"Enough, Iggy, it's just a dream," Said a sad voice.

"I'm not dreaming! It's Max! She's somewhere around here!" Iggy shouted; footsteps echoed in the alley, heading towards us. Hitsugaya put a hand on his zanpakuto, leaning forward.

I shouted in surprise when he drew the blade, "Hitsugaya, don't!" I called, wriggling off Ichigo's back and running forward. "It's Iggy!"

"Max? Who are you talking to?" Asked the boy, I watched him step out of the alley, the streetlight hitting his face. Blank eyes reeled around suspiciously, and I paused a few feet away from him.

"How can he hear me?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

Hitsugaya eyed the boy, "Who is he?"

"He's my brother, how is he hearing me? I'm dead!"

Iggy took a step forward. "Max, who are you talking to?"

"Iggy! Come back here, there's no one there," Fang hissed. I saw a hand latch onto Iggy's wrist and pulling him back, "What are you thinking?"

I was frozen in shock, only a few steps away from me had been two of my flock... And only one even knew I was there.

"Max... Let's go," Ichigo said softly, pulling at my elbow. After a few seconds, I nodded, turning away from the alley's mouth and following him.

* * *

We arrived at Urahara's a few minutes later, the cheerful shopkeeper welcoming us at the door.

"Come in, come in; the Senkaimon will be ready in a moment," He said cheerfully, waving his fan at us.

"Sen..kaimon?"

"It's how we get to the Soul Society," Rukia explained.

I nodded in understanding. Hitsugaya pulled Urahara off to the side while I was shown to a ladder in the ground.

"Wow..." I breathed, looking at the stretching landscape of the... well, I guess I couldn't call it a basement, but more of an underground desert.

"I'm glad you like it!" Urahara called; Rukia rolled her eyes.

Orihime bowed to me, almost hesitantly. "I better be going. Have a safe journey, Max-San," She said, smiling. I grunted slightly, nodding in thanks. Orihime seemed fine, but for some reason she just got on my nerves. And what do we know about my nerves? They make me want to kill people. I don't know if it's just me or not...

"Hey, you guys weren't gonna leave without me, were you?" Asked a voice, we turned around and Ichigo sighed.

"Oh, it's you, Renji," He said, the tattooed man's eye twitched.

"What do you mean by that, Strawberry?"

"I meant I thought someone was actually going to help sort this mess out, not make it worse, Pineapple!"

Renji growled slightly in response, "Why I ought to-."

"When you two are done, the Senkaimon is ready," Urahara interrupted, the two stopped immediately and nodded.

I followed the others over to the large, portal-like frame. "We're seriously going through that?" I asked; Rukia nodded.

"Don't worry; it shouldn't take long, since the sotaichou sent a hell butterfly for you."

I didn't feel like pointing out that I had no idea what a hell butterfly was, so I just nodded and followed her inside the portal. As soon as I had, we were setting off at a run through the corridor-like setting that stretched as far as I could see. It was rather boring, but made my heart pound anyway.

I don't know what I was expecting to see when we finally stopped by a pair of sliding doors but it wasn't what I saw. It was a courtyard of sorts, with more shinigami wandering around. A few were carrying stacks of paper, and some were arguing. Behind a large fence, I could make out two shinigami fighting, though I guessed it wasn't to the death or someone would have stopped them.

A few people stopped what they were doing when we appeared, turning to stare curiously at us for a moment, before returning on their way.

"This is... the Soul Society?" I asked, disbelieving.

**So here you have it, the 4****th**** chapter. I have the immediate future of the fanfic set out, so I may be able to write it up sooner, but there's something I need your help with, even if it doesn't happen yet.**

**What should Max's zanpakutō be like? You can either tell me in a review or check out a poll I'll put on my page. But I really want someone's opinion on that.**

**Once again, I thank my reviewers, you are all beautiful!**

**Later!**

**-Shinigami **


	5. L'Oreal is FABULOUS But scary

_**Holy Fish sticks! Thank you all for being so patient with me! I've been putting this off for a while, because of my four assignments all due this week, as well as trying to get a good report.**_

_**Bah! Enough excuses, here is the latest chapter!**_

_**Disclaimer: I can't even think of a good excuse why I haven't bought the rights to MR and Bleach yet. (I don't own L'Oreal or Garnier Fructis, either)**_

Rukia smiled at my expression, a cross of awed and unbelieving. Everywhere I turned, there were shinigami. I looked down for a moment, noticing the sudden absence of chains clinking when I turned.

"So I got rid of my chain... Does that mean I won't be able to go back to the World of the Living?" I asked.

"You're able to go back there, but I don't recommend it, at least not yet."

"Let's go already; Yamamoto-Soutaichou isn't the most patient of people," Hitsugaya said, walking past us. Yeah, because he was the most patient person I've ever met.

"Hm, that old geezer is probably getting irritated by now," Ichigo agreed, following after the midget.

Rukia and Renji agreed and started through the Seireitei, I hung back and looked around. The Seireitei, from what I had seen so far, was huge and white; some buildings had Japanese numbers on them, but most looked the same.

I slowed down even further, until I had completely stopped. Two shinigami were training, an instructor was writing something down as the two clashed. It reminded me, for a moment, of the School. I remembered once watching through the bars of my delightful little crate two erasers tearing each other apart, a whitecoat standing behind a sheet of glass to take notes.

I shivered slightly, and turned away, back to... Where did they go?

"Well, crap," I muttered, looking around for any familiar faces.

"And who are you?" Asked a voice, I froze, turning around.

"I could ask you the same question," I replied, surveying the possible model of a hair product. He narrowed his slate grey eyes and took a step forward until he was looming over me with a suspicious expression.

"Why are you in the Seireitei, girl?" He questioned.

"I've got a date with the Soutaichou," I said, smirking at him and turning away.

"Why don't I believe that?" He asked, I felt a strange weight on my soul, suddenly. I turned to look at Mr. L'Oreal, my eyebrow raised.

"What do you-?"

"Bakudō 1, Sai."

My eyes widened as he said that, my arms folding up behind me against my will. So this was Kidō, like Rukia had explained.

The muscles in my arms ached when I moved, trying to break out of the spell binding them together. After a moment, L'Oreal came up to me and raied a hand, hitting the sensitive spot on my neck. As soon as he did, I was out like a light.

* * *

"Hey, guys... Where's Max?" Ichigo asked suddenly, the group turned to the back.

"You lost her?" Hitsugaya asked, incredelous.

Ichigo spluttered, turning to the captain. "H-Huh? I didn't loose her, I was following you!"

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard her speak since we were out of the Senkaimon," Renji added, rubbing his chin.

"How hard is it to keep track of a girl with wings?" Ichigo asked.

"Don't go blaming me, Strawberry!"

Rukia sighed, pushing the two away before it became a full-blown argument. "Enough, shouldn't we just go look for her?"

The two sighed, nodding. "Yeah, might as well try to find her before she goes and insults the wrong person."

"Like who?" Asked Rukia, puzzled.

"Your brother," The two said in sync.

* * *

I blinked my eyes open slowly, groaning quietly. This was not my ideal first experience of the Soul Society. The Kidō had been released and I was propped up against a cold wall.

"You're awake," A voice observed from my left, I got to my feet. I was in a cell, the wall I faced was made completely of bars, with the hair model standing on the other side.

"You must be a genius, nobody could figure that out before," I said sharply, folding my arms.

He made a face, glaring at me. "I have more important things to deal with than scum like you; so tell me how you got into the Seireitei."

"Only that? I went through that portal, what's it called... Sen-something."

"That's a lie, only Shinigami are allowed to pass through the Senkaimon."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, let's say I did go through it, go check with Ichigo, or something!"

He paused, looking straight at me. "You know Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"Yeah, he's the idiot with red hair, right?"

"Is he here, then?" He quizzed.

"So what if he is, what's your name, Garnier Fructis?"

Instead of answering me, the girly-man crushed me with his reiatsu.

_**Crash!**_

"Byakuya!"

**Well, now that's done...**

**THANK YOU VANI PARFAIT AND NOCTURNALBEAST FOR HELPING MY ZANPAKUTO NAMING DROUGHT MOVE ALONG!**

**You are wonderful people, and so are the other readers. I am hpong I'll dish out another chapter quicker and longer next time, but... I'm lazy. Also, this won't be added any time soon (if I add it in at all), but do you guys think Iggy should get a girlfriend in this? Should she be a shinigami? What about the rest of the flock?**

**Food for thought.**

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	6. Meeting with the Sotaichou

_***Squints* Oh, hello there! You're back!**_

_**This is chapter 6, huzzah!**_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, Momo would be dead, end of story. As for Maximum Ride... Nah, I haven't got it yet.**_

Waking up in a holding cell (or anything with bars, really) is not my favourite experience, let's just clarify that. Another thing I don't like waking up to is obnoxious people. If it can be avoided, I would rather not feel like I'm being squished like a bug by someone's reaitsu or have to hear any loud noises after coming back to reality, either.

Of course, that all happened within a two-minute time span, lucky me.

"Byakuya!"

My head snapped to where a silhouette of spiky hair appeared, dust and rock scattered in front of him.

"Was breaking through a wall really necessary, Kurosaki?" L'Oreal asked, barely raising his eyebrows at the teenager.

"IT SURE AS HELL WAS! Plus, I couldn't find the door..." The red head rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, before returning to his rant. "Why did you kidnap Max?"

"You know this guy?" I questioned, pointing at the high-and-mighty man.

"A common soul should not be wandering in the Seireitei, Kurosaki."

"Kuchiki-taichou, the girl is here because of a summons from the Sotaichou," Explained an icy voice, we turned to see Hitsugaya walk in. No, not walk, glide. What was with all the captains pretending to be ballerinas?

"Hmph, she doesn't seem like much," he stated, looking down at me. I glared back, that pompous little girly-man.

"You're one to talk," I growled, he turned away from me.

"Well, she's important enough to get an audience with the Soutaichou, which we are going to be late for, if you don't let her out," Hitsugaya pointed out, folding his arms.

Byakuya sighed, and the bars I was leaning against started to shift, opening a gap for me to squeeze through. I did so, passing the man without a second glance.

"Come on, we're running late already," Ichigo sighed; He took my wrist and pulling through the make-shift entrance and down the hall.

"Where're we?" I asked, looking around the building.

"Sixth division, it's Byakuya's territory, I guess."

"Who is Byakuya, anyway? What's up his a-,"

"He's always like that," Hitsugaya said, appearing in front of us.

I rubbed my temples; something told me there were more people like Byakuya to come.

* * *

I was right with that thought, and I knew that as soon as I was told to come into the meeting.

Two guards pulled the doors open, letting me into the room after ten minutes of waiting; I took a few steps forward, looking around.

The shinigami were lined up, six on one side, three on the other, and a huge guy dead ahead of me.

"You are Ride, Max, yes?" He asked, his booming voice rang though my ears.

"Yeah, that's me," I replied.

"Hitsugaya-Taichou has informed us that you are abnormal, would you care to demonstrate this?" He asked, but it felt like more of an order. Now, if you know me, you'll know I don't do very well listening to orders; I thought about telling the man with a beard as long as himself to shove it, but something told me it wouldn't end well for me. Call it a bird's intuition.

I made a face and unfurled my wings, hearing a small gasp ripple through the room. I caught sight of the look one of the shinigami was giving me and instantly went on paranoid; the man reminded me of the white coats when they ran tests on us.

"Extraordinary," A woman with long, braided hair commented.

"Do they work?" Questioned a man wearing a straw hat; he tipped it back to look at me curiously.

I shrugged, breaking out into a run down the middle of the lines, jumping into the air after about ten steps; my wings beat strongly, lifting me a good twenty feet off the ground.

"How long have you had them?" Asked the woman, peering at me curiously.

"Since I was born," I replied.

When I landed, the white coat shinigami spoke up. "This is quite a breakthrough, if I was permitted to run some tests on her..."

"Hell no," I snapped.

"So they work, what do we do with her now?" Asked a particularly huge man; looking as if he wanted nothing more than to attack me as he said it, his hand went to the hilt of the sword- sorry, _zanpakutō_, at his hip.

"Max, please leave us to discuss what further actions will be taken."

I nodded, turned and made my way out of the room without another word. Ichigo was waiting for me outside, walking around and generally looking bored.

"Hey," I greeted, feeling as if a weight had lifted off my head. Or maybe it was just the reaitsu again...

"How'd it go?" He questioned, leaning against the wall.

"Fine, I just showed my wings and told them how long I'd had them, and then I got booted out."

He turned to me, looking bashfully curious. "About that... can I see them?" He asked after a moment, his cheeks going slightly pink.

I dipped my head, my wings slowly peeking out from behind my back.

I felt his calloused hand run over my right wing, slowly gliding over my primaries and secondaries with caution. I had to admit, when I felt his fingers dance across the less covered skin of the wings, that he had remarkably soft hands, for such a mean looking guy.

"They're...really nice," He said awkwardly, I felt a small grin weave its way onto my features.

"Thanks."

We sat in silence for the next few minutes, the red head inspecting my wing with childish wonder; I just enjoyed the feeling of stretching them out after keeping them tucked back for so long.

"So, what were you doing in Karakura?" He asked, "Before you died, I mean."

"My flock and I were having a rest, looking for somewhere to stay that night. We were meant to do a CSM show in Osaka two days from today, so we were taking our time. Angel and Nudge wanted to go to some store across the road from where we were..."

"And you got hit by a car."

"How'd you know?" I asked, turning to him.

"My dad, he's a doctor, someone called him to see if a girl was still alive after getting hit by a car. I'm not surprised; he said the car was going pretty fast."

"Yeah..."

"Who's the flock? And CSM?" He asked.

"They are... were, my family, kids with wings as well. We grew up in a lab, you remember the boy in the alley, calling my name?"

"Mhm, he could sense you."

"That's Iggy; he turned blind from an experiment gone wrong. He's the third oldest. There's also Fang, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel."

"So you're the leader?"

"I was, but something tells me Fang or Angel are top bird now."

"And what's with this CSM? Is it like the lab?"

I shook my head. "No, it's the Coalition to Stop the Madness, it's-," I paused, looking up as the doors opened again.

Hesitantly, I got to my feet; the guard to my right waved me inside.

"We have come to a decision," Yamamoto announced, I nodded.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Seeing as you posses a large amount of reaitsu, and are...unique, we have decided you will be placed into Shinō Academy, where you will train to become a shinigami."

"..."

"..."

_"WHAT?"_

_**I am very, very bad for not being a frequent updater. I am SO SORRY! I'm pretty sure I have ADHD when it comes to updating.**_

_**Anyway, on another note, are any of you guys as annoyed as I am about the share tools up the top of the story? They make the note out of line and it pisses me off, even if I'm not OCD or anything...**_

_**To the lovely **__**patient**__** reviewers:**_

**MorganBanner: Ah, ****I'm sorry! Thank you again, I'm not that great when it comes to reviewing my own grammar.**

**WingedHero540: Hmm... *Strokes chin* Interesting, and possibly very funny. Thank you for the suggestion!**

**RainWithWings: ****Thank you, thank you and thank you! The flock crashing with Ichigo's family... HAHA that would be the best!**

**Vani Parfait: Muhahaha, Byakuya will get hell for his snobbiness, I assure you.**

**Chocolatpen: o.O That idea is... not that bad. I will probably end up making the two go on a mission, thank you for reviewing.**

**nanabat: Thank you! **

**RuneSabre: Ah! A newcomer! Thank you, I hope I haven't disappointed your first Bleach/MR experience. I shall keep you in mind when writing!**

**fayfan: YOU ARE THE BEST! As soon as I write something moderately good in this series, I will dedicate it to you. Ukitake will make an appearance, and it will be because of you!**

**ultimateshinigami: Iggy with a zanpakutō, what could go wrong! I will consider it, thank you for reviewing!**

**I will try to get another few chapters out before my birthday (August 1) but I am currently in a lot of shit, to put it bluntly. You guys make the world so much easier to cope with. Fan fiction makes the world go 'round!**

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	7. The Academy

_**This is pissing me off ===**_

_**Just thought I'd let you know, if you didn't already XD **_

_**Disclaimer: Does it look like I'm intelligent enough to own Bleach or Maximum Ride? I can barely keep this story alive.**_

* * *

"You know, you can stop pouting and just let me in already," Ichigo called from the other side of my door. He had been knocking for a good five minutes.

"No, go away!"

"Max!"

"What?" I yelled, throwing a pillow at the door. Alright... that did absolutely nothing... but it did give me something to vent my anger with.

"It's just a uniform," He reminded me.

That was right, we were arguing about a _uniform_. What was wrong with me? I felt like an idiot in the red and white outfit, and had to cut slits in two shirts just to let my wings stretch out. I might have been wearing red trousers, but they felt like a long skirt, and looked like one. I felt ridiculous.

"It's not just the uniform, Ichigo; I don't want to go to some stupid academy. School and I do not mix well."

"I thought Renji already told you it's not the same as human schools. Most of its practical stuff anyway."

I sighed, wrenching the door to my room open. "Why would I want to spend six years doing the same stuff when I could be doing something interesting?"

The boy ran a hand through his hair and sighed, appraising my clothes. "You look good in that. Anyway, you might not be going for six years, didn't the old man say just until you get a zanpakutō?"

"You say it like he meant it."

"You have to go, Max. What else are you gonna do?"

I glared at him. "I'll find something to do."

"For eternity? Even if you go and live in Rukongai you'll still be vulnerable to attacks from hollows, and you're gonna be different there anyway."

"People don't know about my wings," I protested.

"Not just the wings, it's very unusual for a soul to be here and still have their memories. You're gonna stand out enough as it is."

I scowled, walking back over to my bed and falling down into the covers. It was only a week after the sotaichou told me I'd be training to become a shinigami; he had arranged a dorm in the teachers block for me, because of me being 'unique'. Pfft, yeah. And it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a mutant freak with wings.

Ichigo picked up the pillow by his feet and tossed it into the air. "You've got class in an hour, why are you worried about it now? Just think of it as starting at a new school."

Uh, how about no?

"I told you, the times I did go to school never ended well."

"How many times have you gone to school, anyway?" He asked, throwing himself down on the dark leather sofa across from me.

"I don't know, only a couple of times, and we never stay for longer than a month."

"Seriously? Why aren't you... you know, completely stupid?"

I hurled a pillow at his head, frowning at him. "Just because I can't do algebra doesn't mean I can't defend myself or survive on my own, dumbass."

"Okay, okay," he replied, tossing the pillow back to me. "Are you nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous? I'm going to a school to learn the ways of shinigami, I've got wings, my memories are intact and I'm _dead_."

I have nothing to be nervous about. Confused, angry, ready to kick someone's teeth in? That is normal for me... Nervous, not so much.

"You know, when you put it that way..." Ichigo had the sense to duck the hardcover book I tossed at his mop of orange hair.

"You know what, you can just leave now," I said, pointing to the door.

"Alright, I'm sorry. What's wrong with you?"

I ran a hand through my hair, sighing heavily. "I'm just a little worried about the Flock. I haven't seen them for a while, and it's not every day I die in front of them."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at me, as if I stated the obvious. He better get used to it.

"Shouldn't you be going to class, now?" He asked, I looked at the time and shrugged.

"Fine, I'll see you around?" I asked, grabbing my book bag and hanging it off my shoulder.

He nodded. "Yeah, sure, I'll stay here"

I got to the door, pausing at a thought. "Hey, did you compliment me before?" I asked with my brow furrowed.

"Get over yourself. Of course not, Max," He said, barely facing me. "Don't want your head getting any bigger."  
I snorted, turning away and shutting the door.

The academy was big on the outside; on the inside it was huge. I got lost trying to find my classroom, who made the place a maze?

After a good twenty minutes looking for it, I found room 302, a few people filtering in and out of the doors quickly.

"Hey there," I jumped slightly, turning to look at the boy behind me.

"What?" I asked, annoyed that he had caught me by surprise.

He smiled at me, holding up his hands passively. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new or something?" He asked.

I ignored the boy, opting for finding a seat in the room.

"My name's Taro, what's yours?"

"Why aren't you leaving me alone?" I asked, falling into a seat by the windows.

He blinked, taking the chair next to me. "Why would I do that? You're in my class."

I scowled, looking out the window. How many people here will be as annoying as this boy? "If I tell you my name, will you at least be quiet?"

"I might..."

"My name is Max."

He nodded, twirling a lock of his sandy hair. "Max... That's a nice name. How are you new? The entrance exams were over a month ago."

"I'm a special case, I guess," I replied.

I'm sure he would have kept talking if not for the man walking over. "You must be the new student Yamamoto-Sotachiou told me about," He said, I nodded.

"Yeah."

"Here is some notes on what the class has covered so far, there will be a guest speaker tomorrow at two-thirty, I'd like you to attend."

"Sure," I complied, reading over the sheets of paper he had given me. It seemed pretty straightforward bookwork... I better remember to ask Ichigo to do the homework for me.

"You know the Sotachiou?" Taro gasped; I didn't bother looking up.

"Yes, I know him and his stupidly long name, what's it to you?"

The boy spluttered, I looked up and raised an eyebrow. He stared at me, trying to find words. "N-Nobody here has spoken to Yamamoto-Sotachiou other than the teachers."

"I said I was a special case, didn't I?"

"I guess..."

The conversation cut off there as the class was called to attention. We opened our books to the history of shikai, and away we went.

* * *

I showed up the next day for the guest speaker, getting a seat up the front. I couldn't see Taro, luckily, and so I predicted that I might get through the day headache-free.

Though, knowing my luck, it wasn't likely.

"Max!" Professor Oshiro called after the lecture on zanpakutō history, waving me over.

I grabbed my bag and wandered over, my arms folded.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like you to meet Jushiro Ukitake-taichou, he was sick the day you met with Yamamoto-sotaichou," He said, gesturing to the white haired man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Max-San," He said, bowing with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Ukitake, I gotta say, never thought I would be able to be kept awake by a lecture. You made it pretty interesting," I said, bowing to the white haired man.

His smile grew, nodding slightly. "Thank you, you're very-," He paused, covering his mouth as he coughed harshly. I spotted crimson seeping through his fingers.

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking a step forward.

"Of course, I'll be...fine..."

Professor Oshiro stepped forward, catching the man as he fell backwards. He glanced over his rectangular glasses at me. "Would you mind fetching the nurse for me? Quickly, off you go."

I nodded, dashing out of the room and down the hall.

"I really hope fainting doesn't become something common around me," I whispered, turning a corner.

* * *

_**That was quicker than expected, actually. For those thinking, I am including some of Max's school experiences, but not all of them. The other students aren't permanent, and I'll only be mentioning a few, they're only here for Max's school life.**_

_**To my wonderful reviewers:**_

**MorganBanner: Aha! Thank you, thank you XD Your nit-picking is appreciated very much**

**fayfan: Hehe! That could be SO COOL! Iggy with a zanpakutō might just happen, it would be chaos!**

**NocturnalBeast: Thank you! You're very kind.**

**Vani Parfait: Ha-ha, I might just come to you for prank ideas, then! Thank you, once again**

**DemonColours: That's fine, you're not required to review every chapter, but it's nice if you can. Yay, I can make someone laugh! Yeah, I don't like Momo very much .**

**RainWithWings: Thank you, Max is very badass; I was hoping she would still be in the story :)**

**Thank you all, readers and reviewers alike.**

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	8. Kidō and Voice Boxes

_**I'm Back *Strikes Terminator Pose***_

_**Did you miss me? I have a real reason for being late! I was in a crash, my mum hit a kangaroo... that bugger got away better than I did. Don't worry, I'm not dead yet.**_

_**Disclaimer: Hitsugaya is short, I am short, therefore, I am Hitsugaya, not Tite Kubo. Iggy is blind, therefore, I am not James Patterson. I own nothing.**_

* * *

"I'm sorry, I must have given you a fright," Ukitake apologized, taking a sip of water.

I shrugged, taking the cup from him and placing it on the bedside table. The infirmary was empty, apart from Ukitake, the nurse and I. He had woken up ten minutes beforehand, and was _still_ apologizing.

"I said it was fine," I replied, he smiled.

After positioning himself against the pillows once more, he spoke up. "I should probably tell you, I have a rare disease, sometimes causing me to cough up blood or faint. That's why I wasn't at the meeting."

"That explains why there were only nine shinigami there," I muttered.

"Yes, I'm guessing you know of the Aizen incident."

"Ichigo briefly explained it to me; he was a power hungry idiot, right?" Ukitake chuckled slightly at my guess.

"You could say that. He was actually quite pleasant before we saw his true intentions."

"Yeah, that sounds a little familiar," I muttered.

Ukitake smiled warmly. "You are quite an interesting young girl, Max-Chan. I'd love to talk with you again, sometime. Would you like that?"

I nodded, the white-haired man was actually really nice. I almost forgot that adults could be nice, without wanting something from me (Like, oh, saving the world, maybe?). I glanced up at the clock, and groaned slightly, turning back to Ukitake. "Crap, I'm going to be late. Do you mind...?"

"By all means, go ahead. Thank you for staying so long. I look forward to our next talk, Max-Chan."

I bowed, grabbing my bag and heading for the outside class. I had Kidō class, according to my schedule.

* * *

After about ten minutes of wandering, I found the other students gathered around some targets, talking idly. Apparently, I had beaten our teacher at getting to class. I propped myself against the nearest wall and watched the class.  
They were all first years- like yours truly- but there were people of what looked like all ages. A girl around my age or younger was skipping through the crowd, but there were also two old men talking a foot away from the others, who looked around in their teens or twenties.

The young girl skipped over after a minute, smiling at me. Up close she was tiny, I towered over her. You know that great big thing in New York? I think it was called the Statue of Liberty when the flock visited... I was the equivellent of that. This little kid was a two story building compared to me.

"Hi there, you're Max, right?" She said, her high, pitched voice immediately hurt my ears. I nodded slowly, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, that's me. Who're you?" I asked, my hands planting themselves on my hips.

"My name's Minako," She announced; she reached up and twirled some of the curls in her ponytail. Great, all she needed was a piece of gum and- oh, no, she already had fake nails. Great...

"Is it true you live in the teacher's dorm? And you know shinigami?" She asked eagerly, her dark eyes seemed to sparkle with curiosity.

"Who told you that?" I asked, suspicion taking over.

Minako just shrugged, not giving a name. "So is it true?"

"Listen up, newbies!" A voice suddenly yelled, catching our attention. I turned to my right, catching sight of a balding man in the professor uniform, glaring at the class. "So you're the cream of the crop, huh? We'll see about that."

"Cream of the crop?" I whispered, confused.

"This is Class 1, we were the highest ranking students accepted into the year. Didn't you know that?" Minako asked.

Now, how the hell was I supposed to know that? Are all shinigami so secretive, or is it just the ones I've met?

"I'm Professor Sasaki; I'll be your kidō instructor for this year. Seeing as this is your first time, we're going to focus on Bakudō, the Way of Binding. Everyone, grab a partner."

I looked down at Minako, who had latched herself onto my arm. "Don't worry, Max-Chan, I'll be your kidō partner!"

"Oh... Great..."

"Open your Kidō books to page three and try Bakudō Number One," Sasaki ordered; we flipped the large books open and I scanned through the spell.

"It looks simple enough," Minako said.

"Yeah, I think I've had it used on me, once," I agreed, nodding.

She blinked. "Really? By who?"

"Some girly man who thinks he can run a squad, Byakuya or something." I looked up, her jaw as slack and her eyes reminded me of an owl's.

"You mean you're friends with Byakuya Kuchiki?" She squealed; the two old farts to our left turned to stare at me.

"He isn't exactly on my list of 'friends'. I think he's better suited for my 'Needs to be killed with a toothpick' list," I shrugged, looking back down at my book.

"So you're already enemies, wow..."

"You wouldn't be too close with someone who threw you in prison either," I deadpanned, she blinked. "Let's just start practicing."

"Sure! Okay, I'll go first, Max-Chan! Go stand over there, and tell me if it works!" The dark haired girl said, bouncing on the spot as I took a few steps back. She babbled on for another few moments about how 'cool' this was before she even looked at her book again.

Do they have a kidō spell to remove voice boxes? I should look into that...

* * *

_**Okay, that was sort of short. But I promise to work on that! I didn't add Max's try at Kidō just yet because I need your opinion on it.**_

_**So, should Max be good or bad at Kidō? Should she be talented, or worse than Renji?**_

_**Also something that I really, really, really need your honest opinions on is: If she should go to Hueco Mundo with Ichigo or stay and battle at the start of the Fake Karakura town with the captains?**_

_**Your answers will be tallied and I'll make the decision in a few chapters.**_

_**To the ever-so-lovely and helpful reviewers:**_

**fayfan: 'One of Uki-Chan's friends' made me giggle. XD Thank you again for your help, you're so great to my story! If that makes sense...**

**RuneSabre: My... Lord... I didn't think of that... Why didn't I think of that? Wahh! Thank you for that suggestion, you're a genius. Thank you thank you thank you!**

**Vani Parfait: Thank you, I might just do that. You're so great! WHY HAS EVERYONE BUT ME SEEN THE NEW HP MOVIE? I FEEL SO LEFT OUT! Thank you again for the review, you're my favourite sadistic weirdo from now on **

**xXChillyNightsXx: Thank you, so do I. It's great to know that I can **_**sometimes**_** get things right. **

**FilinoFang: Thank you, thank you, I'll try to!**

_**That is all, please think about the questions and/or anything else you'd like to see in the story.**_

_**Later!**_

_**-Shinigami**_


	9. Matsumoto Sort of a filler chapter

_**Hellloooooo!**_

_**Welcome to Chapter Nine! *Throws Confetti***_

_**I feel so great that I've made it this far I JUST WANT TO TURN THE CAPS LOCK on. **_

_**Uhm, this was longer in my word document, and my new computer is a bitch. Please don't hate me! I'll try to make them longer, I swear! *Bows***_

* * *

I've never been one to believe in magic, in case you don't know that.

Creepy, unnatural things aren't new to me, but there's usually a group of crazy white coats behind it. There has always been someone to blame for what happens. Usually Jeb.

Kidō was not Jeb's fault, and I'm pretty sure white coats didn't invent it. No, it's my person al hell.

I won't say too much about it, but let's say that I'm lucky to still have my eyebrows on... And that was from using a binding kidō.

"You know, it's not the end of the world, Max-chan," Minako reminded me; I didn't bother with a response, I was concentrating on getting away from her. It seemed that nobody in the Soul Society could take a hint, and I was starting to think they were ordered to annoy me. At least Taro didn't actually leave the school grounds with me.

We pushed the doors of the classroom open; the hallways were already crowded with students, most of them seniors. They were all avoiding a bubble of room to my right, though, and so I ducked over that way.

"Finally," A familiar voice said tiredly. My eyes narrowed.

"What're you doing here, Hitsugaya?" I asked; he pushed off the wall and walked over to me, some students around us pausing to see what was happening.

"I've been given orders to check up on you every week, starting now," He explained, I scowled.

"Why?"

Minako appeared by my shoulder, blinking. "Huh? Max-chan, you know another taichou? How cool!" She squealed, I rolled my eyes.

"Why are yours arms covered in soot?" He asked, raising my left arm by the wrist, inspecting it.

My eye twitched. He was avoiding the question. "I had Kido class, now tell me why you've been-,"

"So you suck at kidō, huh? I can't say I'm surprised," He murmured, starting to tow me through the hallways.

"You've got a lot of nerve for a midget," I growled. He stopped suddenly, causing me to run into his back.

The air became chilly, the shinigami turned to me. "What did you say, Max?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Taichou!" Our heads snapped up at the bubbly voice.

"Matsumoto..." He growled; I took a step back, dodging a strawberry blonde woman that tried to hug me.

"Who's this? Is this Max, the one you were talking about, taichou?" She asked, staring at me excitedly. "She's cute, does she talk?"

Oh, right, never mind that I can hear you.

"Matsumoto," Hitsugaya repeated, folding his arms.

"I'm Matsumoto Rangiku, Squad Ten's fukataichou. You're pretty. It's nice to meet you!"

This woman... she was as bad as Nudge when it came to talking, apparently.

"Yeah, I'm Max," I replied, Rangiku bowed deeply, I spotted a zanpakutō on her hip. And whose bright idea was it to let someone like her have a weapon? She could always just talk her enemies to death.

"Matsu-,"

"Come on, then, Max-chan! I'll introduce you to my friends!" She announced, grabbing my hand and wrenching me away from Hitsugaya. He looked just about ready to explode by the time she started pulling me down the hallways.

We broke through the front doors, Rangiku calmed down to a speedy walk as we started towards the Seireitei.

"So, tell me about yourself," She said, smiling at me.

"There's not much to tell."

"Sure there is! Taichou can't stop talking about you!" She said, thoroughly confusing me. Confused Max is not a happy Max. "Come on, we're almost there!"

When we arrived outside the gates, she pulled my off to the left, down a small alleyway, and into what looked like a bar of sorts.

"Rangiku...what're we doing here?" I asked cautiously, glancing around. It was midday and shinigami were scattered around the bar; some were singing by a small karaoke set, their talent was on about the same level as someone playing the violin with a cat while doing a handstand. I scowled as she yanked me towards the back of the bar; a small window was my only possible escape route.

"I told you, we're here so you can meet my friends."

"I doubt any friends you meet in bars at lunch time are good ones..." I muttered, wrinkling my nose. Alcohol wasn't my favourite thing in the world; I preferred to avoid it; because, hey, not many Erasers will keep still for you if you're drunk in a battle.

"Aw, don't be like that, Max-chan. They're really nice!" She said, sitting me down next to a dark haired man, who was pouring some drinks.

"Who're you?" He asked, not looking up from the small glasses.

"She's Max, the one that the higher-ups were talking about," Rangiku said, falling down across from me, next to a timid looking blonde, who surveyed me.

"Hello, I am Kira Izuru," He introduced, smiling and nodding to me. "That's Hisagai Shūhei." Said man grunted in hello.

"Why do you have 69 on your face?" I asked flatly, curious about the only part of his face I could see at the time.

He looked up, and I blinked.

"...Fang?"

* * *

"I'm stupid."

"Not exactly..."

My eye twitched as I brought the wooden sword- a shinai, I think the instructor called it- on Ichigo's head. He dodged and went for my ribs, but I jumped back out of the way.

"I thought a stranger was Fang, how stupid do you have to be to do that?"

"Well, you said he looked like this Fang guy," The red head reminded me, lunging forward. "It was an honest mistake."

"How could I have thought it was him? He doesn't have tattoos, doesn't drink, isn't friends with Rangiku, and more importantly, isn't _dead_."

He paused, looking slightly insulted. "Hey! I'm here and I'm not dead!"

"That's different; I didn't scream 'Iggy!' when I met you." I discarded the sword and lunged at him, knocking the boy over.

We wrestled for a while, swearing and punching each other. After a few minutes, we gave up, and resorted to lying on the floor.

Ichigo looked over at me, still grinning slightly. "Are you ever going to tell me about your past?"

"I told you about the flock, isn't that enough?"

He gave me a look. "You and I both know there's more to your life than that."

I rolled onto my stomach, narrowing my eyes. "Are what about you? I'm sure your life hasn't been all sunshine and daisies either."

He shrugged. "Nobody ever has the perfect life."

I raised an eyebrow at him, before nodding. "I guess."

Ichigo turned, grinning at me. "Anyway, how's finding your zanpakutō spirit going?"

I pouted, slamming my head into the wooden floor. "It's being stubborn. I can't sense anything in my head."

The strawberry laughed, and I grinned slightly in return. "C'mon let's go get some dinner," He stretched, before holding out a hand. I shook my head and accepted his help up.

We started out for the nearest restaurant, Ichigo was laughing about some stupid thing I said, but I froze at the door. Something sounded in my head that I hadn't heard for…well, for quite some time.

"_**You're almost ready, Max… "**_

That stupid Voice; it was always finding a way to pop back up into my life.

* * *

**BEWARE! LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE AHEAD!**

**I HAS A QUESTION! Should Max, Ichigo and Hitsugaya start to get fluffy? I'm not sure if they should. Keep in mind that there are some time gaps between chapters which they sort of just... hang around...so it isn't all happening in a week, its taking time!**

**Ahaha**, **would you like to know the scores of where Max should go?**

** Karakura: 2 **

**Hueco Mundo: 6**

**Well, the question is still open, and will be for a while longer. As for the Kido issue…. I've pretty much decided. As many have suggested, she will not be absolutely freaking fantastic at Kido, because, hey, she isn't really the type for that. BUT, she will not be completely useless in the area.**

**Also, just a small alert, I may be able to get these out quicker, or slower, than usual. I'm not sure, as I am sort of in the middle of something right now and keep getting distracted by stupid thi- Oh, look a bird!**

**To the oh-so-precious reviewers of mine:**

_**WingedHero540: Oh, I can just imagine Max's reaction to those guys. I can't WAIT to write about Grimmjow! **_

_**RuneSabre: Hehe, you make me giggle. If she does end up shooting fireballs at sexists, Iggy's in deep doggy doo-doo there. Thank you for your suggestions and insight!**_

_**fayfan: The U.S of A, huh? Wish I could go there, in winter, especially. I wanna have a white Christmas sooo bad! Szayel, you say? Interesting… He gives me the creeps, so it could be fun! Giiiin~! I shall try to work it into the story, maybe Max will be able to save the poor sod. Thank you!**_

_**MorganBannerX2: Ah, what would I do without you? *cough*Be lost in a void of bad grammar*cough* I agree, Max doesn't seem like the type to keep unreasonable distance in a battle. 'Idiot girl who was dumb enough to get herself captured'… Yep, that pretty much sums up Orihime in my mind. :D**_

_**Silverleaf2157: "Uh, did you dye your hair blue on purpose, or are you just stupid?" Max and Grimmjow could be quite entertaining when irritating each other. I shall try to update quicker!**_

_**SSJSaphira: Aw, thank you. You're review means a lot to me, and yes, Max is special, so she will probably end up being great at something. Chosen ones usually are, but I hope it doesn't come out too cheesy**_

_**Vani Parfait: Yeah! I love the Iggy suggestion, I love the do suggestion as well, but you mentioned Iggy, so… yeah. Don't worry, the stalkers are only temporary, they might get killed off or something, I'm not sure yet…**_

_**RainWithWings: That's really fine! Suggestions aren't a must-have in reviews; it's just great to know you enjoy the story so far! Thank you!**_

_**Vani Parfait: That's fine, I'm sure I would have figured out who you were eventually **_

_**Vani Parfait: I DON'T KNOW :D**_

_**fushigiarisu13: Hmmm, prodigy at Kido…. I'm not sure… Don't worry, I don't mean to knock your idea totally off the mind map, but maybe she can be extremely talented at something else? It looks like she will probably be going with Ichigo, right now, anyway. Thank you!**_

_**RuneSabre (Again!): My gosh, that's detailed! What an awesome suggestion! Thank you! Uh…. How do I turn multiple reviews on? /**_

_**SkyEra: Don't worry, I assure you, we will be seeing the flock soon *OMSPOILER* I kind of got the feeling she would have a list like that, or maybe one for those she wanted to kill with a spoon, or something… Hehe, thank you for the review!**_

_**Later,**_

_**-Shinigami**_


	10. Dreams & Jeb

_**CHAPTER…(Dramatic Pause)….. TEN!**_

_**My gosh, I cannot believe I actually got this far. I seriously thought I'd flunk out and get flamed by the second chapter.**_

_**But I haven't! Huzzah!**_

_**Disclaimer: When I get MR and Bleach, not only you guys, but everyone in the world will know. Look out for a crazy red head screaming 'I HAVE WINGS AND A ZANPAKUT**__**Ō**__**, GET OUTTA MY WAY!' Because that will be me :3 **_

_**On with the story!**_

* * *

I was asleep, I was almost certain I was.

Almost…

"Max?" A voice called, I looked around, seeing nothing but… well, nothing. It was completely black in my dream. How cliché.

"Who's there?" I yelled into the abyss.

Taking an experimental step forward, I inched in the direction the familiar sound had come from.

"Max? It's me."

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific. I don't remember meeting and 'Me's in my life," I replied.

"It's Iggy!"

"Iggy? What're you doing in my dream, Ig?" I questioned, straightening up.

There was a small huff. "That's my line! I'm the one asleep here!"

I made my way towards the faint outline that I guessed was Iggy, who was looking around for me. I grabbed onto his arm; he felt the same, so he must be real…right?

"How about we settle on this, we're both dreaming," I proposed. He nodded after a moment, shrugging lightly.

"Alright, then how are we talking to each other? And where'd you go, Max?" He asked me, sounding very confused.

"…Ig, I'm dead."

"…"

"…"

"No, seriously..."

I smacked the strawberry blonde across the head, sighing. "I'm not kidding, Iggy! Why would I joke about that?"

He whined, rubbing his head. "Fine, if you're dead, how are we talking?"

"I…haven't figured that out yet," I admitted, frowning. How were we talking? I had gone to sleep that night, and Iggy was real, yet meant to be in the world of the living, so… how were we right in front of each other?

"Well… you said that you fell asleep, right? Maybe it's a telepathic thing," Iggy suggested, I blinked.

"You know, after seeing the things we have, I'm ready to believe just about anything… Has Angel ever been able to do this with you, or anything like it?"

After thinking for a moment, the strawberry blonde shook his head. "No, have any of your dead friends heard of it?" He asked.

My eye twitched at the 'dead friends' comment, but ignored it. "Not that I know of, I'll ask around, maybe it's happened before."

"In the meantime… do you have any idea what this place is?"

"Nope, do-. What the hell is that?" I shouted, covering my ears as a harsh ringing sound filled the abyss.

"I have no idea. What happened?" Iggy asked, covering his ears, too. We looked around for any signs, but were met by nothing but the ringing sound. A moment later, the echoing of footsteps was added to our surroundings.

"Iggy, what's wrong? Wake up!" A voice said faintly, our eyes widened.

"Max? What's happening?" Iggy asked me frantically.

"I don't know!"

I reached out for my brother, but my hand went right through the middle of his chest; what used to be a solid body slowly disappeared, like sand in my hand.

"Iggy!"

* * *

I lurched upwards, into sitting position in my bed. I panted heavily, before looking at my alarm clock. It was the same sound as the one I heard in the... whatever that was.

"What's wrong with you?" Asked a voice; I spun around and glared at Hitsugaya. He stared back blankly, resting comfortably against my window.

"Nothing's wrong, why do you ask?" I lied, getting out of the bed and stretching.

Hitsugaya snorted, rolling his eyes. "You've been calling for some 'Iggy' for the past two minutes. Bad dream?"

I narrowed my eyes. "No. Now will you leave so I can get ready?"

The white haired midget didn't give me a response, other than turning and jumping out of my window. I slammed it shut and went to the bathroom, washing up for the day.

Academy students had the weekend off for once, yesterday had mostly been studying kidō. I had one day left before I had to go back to school, so I had conned Hitsugaya into taking me to Ukitake. He agreed on the condition that I spend less than two afternoons with Rangiku per week. That could probably be easy enough, seeing as I could only handle the woman in small amounts.

"Time to go," I announced, locking my dorm and following Hitsugaya towards the Seireitei.

"Iggy… He was the kid from the alley, right?" Hitsugaya said after a minute. I looked over at him, surprised. What was his sudden interest?

"Yeah, that's him."

"He's your brother?" I nodded, looking ahead once more. "You don't look alike at all…"

We paused outside one of the four large gates, ducking under the opening the giant man made for us. "He isn't my biological brother."

"Did you have one?"

I slowed down slightly, taking in the Seireitei again. It was a pretty nice place to visit, but really easy to get lost –and wander into jerks- in. "I had a half-brother once. I killed him, then he came back to life, then he was killed again."

Hitsugaya halted, staring at me with a quirked eyebrow. "You're very strange, Max," He said. Pfft, as if I didn't already know that.

"You know, I think I've already accepted that," I replied.

We started walking again, and arrived in front of Squad Thirteen ten minutes later. Two shinigami were arguing on who got to greet us, and others just stared curiously. The two ran over, the man stared greeting us.

"Welcome to Squad Thirteen! Ukitake-taichou is-,"

"-Waiting for you inside!" The woman with dark blonde hair ended, smiling.

This, of course, set off another argument. "Hey! That was my line, Kiyone! Go find someone else to greet!"

"There is nobody else, Sentarō!"

Hitsugaya sighed heavily and stepped around the two butting heads. I followed after him, into the barracks.

"Ukitake!" He called, pushing a door open. The white haired man inside looked up with a smile, a pot of tea was already steaming away on the table.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-taichou, Max-chan," He greeted us. "Please, have a seat."

I sat down quickly, while Hitsugaya folded his arms. "I can't stay. Some of us have work. I'll be back later to take you home, Max," He announced, turning and leaving hastily.

"Well… how have you been, Max-chan?" Ukitake asked, pouring a cup of tea for the both of us. I shrugged, sipping my tea.

"Fine, I guess… actually, I have a question for you," I admitted.

"Really? What would it be?" He inquired, sipping from his cup, before looking at me with curiosity.

"Is it possible for a soul in the World of the Living to contact a dead person through a dream?" Ukitake looked a little surprised at the question – I know I would-, but answered after a moment anyway.

"I myself have never witnessed something like that. But if there has been that before, I'm sure there's a document of it. Would you like to look for it?" He offered, I nodded. "There is a condition, though. Why do you wish to know this?"

I paused, biting my lip. Ukitake had been really nice, even visited me a few times, but would he freak out? I got the feeling he wouldn't, and sighed.

"I think… I think it happened to me."

Ukitake's eyebrows rose for a moment, before lowering. He nodded, standing up. "Well, then. Let's go have a look in the Daireishokairō."

"The…what?"

"It's the Great Spirit Library, it contains the history of the Soul Society."

* * *

"Iggy, what's wrong! Wake up!"

The boy jumped up, pulled from his dream…vision…thing. He glanced around, but sighed. He saw nothing but the same darkness as always. He heard Nudge's voice blabbering worriedly to his right, and who seemed to be Fang in front of him.

"Ig, what's wrong?" The other boy asked tensely.

Iggy panted, trying to make sense of what had happened. He had talked to Max, he felt her hand. She had been _right_ _there_, and then he had slipped back into reality…

"We need to talk to Jeb," He announced, shooting to his feet.

"What? Iggy, what's wrong with you? The only reason he's even in Karakura is because of Dr Martinez, and she's leaving soon!"

Fang seemed angry, and confused. Iggy just shook his head. "I need to ask him something."

"What about?" Nudge asked, walking forward with another set of feet.

"About Max," Angel said for him, coming into the conversation.

A silence hung over the group; the only sounds were the early-morning walkers outside of the alley, and Gazzy's snoring.

Fang grabbed onto Iggy's arm, in the same place Max's feather –oh the irony- light touch had settled what seemed to be hours before. What was wrong with his internal clock?

"Is that true, Iggy? Why do you need to ask Jeb about _her_?" Fang practically hissed in his ear.

Iggy shrugged the elder boy's hand off, folding his arms. "Because, I talked to her."

He didn't expect them all to jump up and agree with him, really. He was more likely expecting Fang to boot him off to some asylum to be checked for insanity. So he was a little shocked when her soft voice said…

"He's telling the truth."

She really was an angel at times, that little girl.

* * *

"Nope… nope… nope… There's nothing about telepathic connection through worlds in this one, either," I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry about wasting your time like this, Ukitake."

The man smiled at me, patting my shoulder. "That's alright, Max-chan. Things like this take time; you can't expect to find what you're looking for in a place like this on your first try."

"But it's already ten o'clock and we're only on, what? 107 AD, that's just great!"

Ukitake smiled again, "You're very impatient, Max-chan. How about you return to your dorm? I'll keep searching tomorrow."

I looked up, blinking. "You'd do that?"

"Of course I would, Max-chan." He nodded, shutting the computer file directory down and leading me back to the exit.

"Thank you so much, Ukitake."

He shrugged, locking the several locks on the door. "It's nothing, Max-chan."

"Well, it's about time," I turned around, spotting the midget leaning against the outside wall.

My eyes narrowed. "Do you do that to make me feel like we've been keeping you waiting, or are you just always annoying?" I asked.

Hitsugaya's eye twitched. "Hey, it's not my fault you took so long!"

"How'd you even know we were here, anyway?"

"Ukitake left a note for me," He explained, holding up a small piece of paper. That smartass.

The eldest here chuckled, and we turned to Ukitake with raised eyebrows. "What?" We asked in unison.

"Nothing; why don't you take Max-chan home now, Hitsugaya-taichou?" He said, hiding a smile behind his hand.

Hitsugaya grunted, pushing off the wall. "Sure. Let's go, brat."

I scoffed, bowing. "See you around, Ukitake."

"Of course, bye, Max-chan," He said, waving as Hitsugaya led me away.

I turned to look at the shortie, tapping my chin. "You're extra moody today, what happened?" I questioned, gaining his attention.

"What makes you think something happened?"

"You're easier to annoy."

"Ah."

I rolled my eyes, he glanced at me as we exited the Seireitei. "What?" he demanded.

"Nothing…"

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_

The man opened his hotel door, blinking. Two children, and a tall boy with unseeing eyes.

"Jeb," Iggy said solemnly. "We need to talk about Max."

* * *

_**Hello!**_

_**SO, I thought I might just put some more of the Flock into the story. Because, hey, they're a pretty big part of this, as well. Question time! (This is for the story, so lease don't think I'm annoying)**_

_**Should Max have an inner hollow? That would make her a vizard, and I think it would be awesome, because then she would meet Shinji and Hiyori**_

_**I'd also love any more suggestions on Max's abilities. ALSO! If she is going to be apart of this battle with the arrancars (Which she is) she will need some opponents!**_

_**I've posted a character sheet if you want to help me make some enemies for dear Maximum.**_

_**To the reviewers!:**_

**WingedHero540: That could really work. Thank you so much for the suggestion **

**MorganBanner: *le gasp* I would never tell you to f*ck off, you're benefiting the story! Those idiots need lives, in my opinion. Thank you, I shall try and get around to fixing the chapters. About the special 'o', I just find it easier. I've seen too many stories where there are fights on how they spell T****ō****shir****ō****. It's best to just nullify that as much as possible**

**NocturnalBeast: Thank you! God, with all these expectations, I'm starting to think I'll let everyone down when Max gets her zanpakutō… wish me luck!**

**SkyEra: Thank you for bringing that to my attention, I'm going to try and make it so that in their encounters (soon to be released) that most of their love evaporates, it seems like the rational thing to do. I can't have Max falling in love/ tripping others into love or else it's just gonna seem a little Mary-sure-ish of Max**

**fushigiarisu13: Hahaha, Max and Grimmjow should be a funny encounter. Thanks for the review!**

**Vani Parfait: Vani's account has been fixed, huzzah! Cotton candy is NOM! Yes, Ukitake would have no problem at all! I should have added in Ichigo and Max's meal time, but I didn't. Damn. Maybe another time. Thank you for you review, you are very awesome! **

**RuneSabre: Mmmmhmm Matsumoto = Nudge + boobs + weapon. *Nods* You are very observant with people's zanpakutō releases. I shall take this into account when designing Max-chan's zanpakutō. Thank you very much!**

**fayfan: Yay for bipolar weather/countries! I actually think Max going both places would be good. I'll probably do that… Thank you so much for the review!**

_**Later,**_

_**-Shinigami**_


	11. Zanpakuto! And The Flock

**I've been putting this off, for unknown reasons.**

**Sorry! Gomen! Scusa! ****Désolé! You get the point**

* * *

"Get out," Jeb instructed, pointing towards the door. Iggy scowled in the direction of the man, folding his arms.

"Jeb, we aren't leaving until you give us an answer," He said flatly. Angel nodded at his side, frowning at the scientist.

The man scowled. "What do you want me to tell you? Max is dead, I can't say anymore on the matter, so will you leave or not?"

Iggy glared in Jeb's general direction, his mouth set in a firm line. "So you know nothing about contacting someone who's dead in your dreams?"

"No, I don't. Now please, leave," Jeb growled. He began herding the trio out of the room, before pausing with a sigh. "If I get some free time, I'll try to look into the matter for you. But I can't tell you anything if I don't know about the subject."

"Thank you, Jeb!" Angel said, smiling at the man. She turned on her heel, grabbing Iggy and Gazzy's hands and towing them out of the hotel room. Jeb shut the door as soon as the three were out of the way.

Iggy looked at Angel once they had left the hotel. "You had something to do with that, right?"

Angel nodded sadly, looking at the ground. "He's really sad about Max," She informed him. "He misses her as much as we do."

The Gasman sniffled slightly, and Angel's eyes watered. Iggy sighed, leading them to an alleyway. The three huddled together on the ground for a while. Iggy stared upwards as he rubbed the two children's backs, an attempt to soothe them. He hadn't really been required to do the comforting when Max was around, that was her job; even when she left, Fang was there as the main support for the kids. The Flock didn't cry that often, which resulted in Iggy's inexperience with helping them feel at ease.

_Damn it, Max, _He thought sadly as his cheeks began to feel damp, not just from his tears, but the small raindrops that were beginning to fall. _Why'd you have to go and die on us?_

* * *

My head snapped up, staring at the ceiling for a moment. _What the…?_

"Stay concentrated!" I glanced back around, in time to see a flash of white before being kicked to the ground. I growled, propping myself up on my elbows.

"You shouldn't attack someone when they aren't ready!" I snapped angrily; the midget just shrugged, walking closer to me.

"You should have been on alert. What was with the sudden daydreaming?" He asked, frowning at me.

"I thought I heard someone calling me," I replied, getting to my feet. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at me, before turning away.

"That's enough training for today. You have class soon, don't you?" He called, retrieving his haori from one of the benches.

"You really don't know how to slack off, do you?" I asked, grabbing my small bag. We walked out of the training room together, and Hitsugaya glanced at me.

"I have Matsumoto for a lieutenant, I have no time to slack of," He replied. I rolled my eyes.

"That's a lousy excuse, you know."

The short-ass just shrugged, before turning. "Get to class, Brat," He called, disappearing a moment later.

My eye twitched. "That little…" I growled, shaking my head and continuing on towards the Zanjutsu Training Hall.

* * *

Nudge glanced at the boy next to her nervously. "Fang… Are you sure this was a good idea? The last time the Flock spilt up we were in pretty big trouble. I mean, can't you and Iggy just stop fighting? I mean, he just wanted to ask Jeb a question, right? Can't we just meet up with them once they're done?"

Fang glanced at the girl for a moment, before shaking his head. "If they talk to Jeb, then everything will become more complicated than it already is. You said so yourself."

"Yeah, but I don't like this, it's almost like…whenever the Flock is split things start to get worse for us."

Fang glanced down at Nudge again, before leading her into a shopping mall. "We should stay indoors until the rain is gone," He explained when she threw a questioning stare his way.

The two ducked into a small café, sitting in one of the secluded corners. Nudge ordered them both hot drinks before taking a seat opposite the dark haired boy.

"Fang…" She started, becoming thoroughly interested in the packets of sugar in front of her. "Do you miss Max? I do…"

Fang looked at the younger girl, before running a hand through his hair. "Let's work out were we should get to next," He said, returning to tapping away on his keyboard.

* * *

"_**Max…"**_

I breathed deeply, trying not to be distracted by the voice sounding in my head. _As much as I love your company, I'm in the middle of something, if you haven't noticed._

"You have half an hour left," The calm voice of our instructor spoke up; I breathed slowly, trying to block out the annoying voice.

"_**You don't understand, Max. Listen to me,"**_The Voice demanded calmly. I sighed heavily, focusing on it.

_Fine, what is it?_

…

* * *

Ukitake's eyes widened slightly, and he stood up suddenly, rushing from the Daireishokairō platform and outside. After his eyes had adjusted to the outside lights, he continued down the halls and out of Central 46.

"Ukitake, what's got you in a rush?" Asked a voice, the man turned to look at the shorter captain.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, I'm just going to see Max-chan. What about you?"

The child prodigy shrugged, frowning. "I have to check up with her today."

"So we're both going the same way, how nice," The man smiled. "Do you know where she is?"

Hitsugaya nodded slowly, jerking his chin in the direction of the academy. "She has Jinzen right now, apparently she hasn't contacted her zanpakutō spirit yet."

Ukitake raised his eyebrow as the two began walking towards the academy.

"Really? Has anyone in her class gained their zanpakutō yet?"

"Yes; a couple did yesterday."

* * *

Everything was white. Absolutely everything.

My eyes were practically burning in their sockets, and I quickly shut them when I realized my surroundings.

"Max, open your eyes," The Voice commanded. My eyes snapped open. The Voice… it wasn't echoing in my ears anymore. It sounded clear, almost as if it was outside my head for once.

"Huh? What the hell?"

"Not exactly," The Voice continued, amused. "Open your eyes."

I slowly lifted my eyelids, adjusting to the white-ness of the...room? I'm not sure what it was. After a moment, I stood up, spinning around. All I was met with was... well, nothing, really. Nothing but white. Then, I spotted it. Seeming like it was miles away from me, a wisp of black smoke. I walked towards the dark spot on the plain background of this... place.

"What the...?" I asked, reaching my hand out. Instead of slipping through it, my hand fell against the smoke, laying there. I pulled back as the smoke expanded, reaching from the floor to over my head. I jumped back, watching the smoke take a figure.

"Max. Do you know what I am?" Asked the Voice as the smoke became a hooded figure, a little taller than me.

"The grim reaper?" I guessed with a shrug.

The figure moved slightly, a chuckle emitting from the shadowed hood.

* * *

"I'm terribly sorry, Ukitake-taichou, but you aren't permitted to enter right now. The class is ending soon, you'll have to wait until then," The man said, standing in Ukitake's way of the door.

"Oh, alright. Do you know if Maximum Ride is in this class?" The captain questioned. The man checked the schedule in his hands, before nodding.

"As a matter of fact, yes she is. I will inform her of your presence when class ends."

"Thank you," The elder man replied, the two bowed respectfully before Ukitake returned to Hitsugaya, who was standing against one of the far walls. "She should be out in a few minutes," The man reported. Hitsugaya nodded stiffly.

* * *

"Peter Rabbit?"

"No."

"The witch from Hansel and Gretel?"

"No! Max, would you listen to me? I am not a character from a story." The figure said, exasperated. I smirked, trying to think of another Disney character to call it.

"So, you're the voice the whitecoats gave me, yes?"

"No. The whitecoats didn't implant me, or this place, into you when you were young."

I blinked, surprised. "Then how-?"

"I'm your zanpakutō."

I stumbled at that declaration, falling onto my ass, my jaw slack. "HUH?"

"Wow! Max got a zanpakutō!"

"Seriously? Wow!"

"How's that possible? She's just a newbie, right?"

"If _she's_ a newbie, what does that make _you_, idiot!" I opened my eyes as Minako whacked a boy over the head. Why were all these idiots crowding around me? I made to stand up, but the clattering of metal stopped me halfway.

Laying on the floor by my feet was a sleek, thin blade. It had a thick hilt… thing, wrapped in black and white fabric. The guy Minako smacked leant forward, extending his hand to the katana, but when he came in contact with it, he went flying away, hitting the room's door.

"What the hell?"

"Stand back!"

"Go on, pick it up, Max!" Someone shouted.

I stared at it for a moment, before reaching down and picking it up. The zanpakutō was light an easily fit in my hand, like it was custom made for my palm.

"Class is dismissed," Our sensei proclaimed suddenly. The students hurriedly grabbed their things and exited the room quickly, a man stepped into the room, walking over to me.

"Ukitake-taichou and Hitsugaya-taichou are waiting for you outside."

I nodded, holding the sword awkwardly. What was I supposed to do with it?

As soon as the thought entered my mind, a sheath appeared in my free hand. I blinked, surprised, before placing the zanpakutō into it, carrying it out of the class.

"Ukitake, what're you doing here?" I asked the man, ignoring the midget for the moment.

The man smiled at me. "Well, I actually-, is that a zanpakutō?" He asked, pointing to my hand.

"Yeah," I replied, "Just got it, actually. What were you saying?" I asked.

Ukitake nodded, grinning. "I found something in the archives."

My eyes widened, and my jaw dropped. Seriously? I didn't think that we would actually come across anything.

* * *

"Gazzy! Look out!"

"Huh?"

**CRASH!**

Iggy clenched his fists as another wall was demolished. He felt something near him, breathing by his neck slowly. It smelt like rotten carcasses and trash cans, making the boy grimace. "Gazzy! Get Angel and run! I'll catch up!"

"Right!"

The blind boy turned around, the full stench of the monster's breath hitting his face.

"_You smell… delicious,"_ A booming voice said, Iggy took a step backwards. "_Almost as good as a shinigami_!"

Iggy felt a large hand throw him to the ground, pinning him there. He struggled frantically for a moment, hearing the air whooshing as what he guessed was the other hand coming closer to his body.

He was done for, this was it. Iggy tried to look on the bright side, he could most likely join Max, after he died. The hand was probably about to kill him, when…

"Dance; Sode no Shirayuki!"  
_

* * *

_**Muhaha! I have updated. **_

_**Sorry if this seems a little jumbled, I completed this in the middle of my English class – I'm such a rebel.**_

_**Anyway, I am SO SO SORRY about the long wait. I've been having more personal problems than usual, but I should be more frequent from now on.**_

_**Max has a zanpakutō! It's actually the Voice as well, but whatever. I haven't yet decided on what type it will be, but I shall soon!**_

_**SHE WILL BE GRADUATING THE ACADEMY SOON! Probably in the next chapter or two. Alright? What squad should she be in? Tell me!**_

_**TO THE LOVELY, PATIENT REVIWERS:**_

**Vani Parfait: Taffy? Cool! Hehe! Yes, I'd love to have Max meet Shinji and Hiyori! Thank you for pointing that Central 46 dilemma. Thank you!**

**Fayfan: THANK YOU! *bows at the greatness that is fayfan's idea* Wah! Thank you! Thank you! Ahaha, do you realise how awesome your suggestions are? Thank you, thank you!**

**MorganBanner: Max with a scythe is a pretty nice thought, and a wind-based one would most likely suit her very well. I see your point about the inner hollow, thank you! No grammatical mistakes? YAY! Thank you!**

**WingedHero540: That is a pretty awesome idea! Plus it has a backstory, not just her suddenly having one. I like it, thank you very much!**

**X-The-Final: I'm very flattered, thank you. I'll try not to keep the waiting much longer, Max should be out of the academy very soon, I promise.**

**NocturnalBeast: A very good point! And an excellent idea, thank you very much!**

**TwilightKat777: Yes, I think Iggy should get a girlfriend, as well. You read my mind on the voice/zanpakutō idea! Well done! Thank you for the review**

**NicoXChiku says Cata: Thank you! You are now my Nudge of the reviewers! Nice ideas, thank you very much! She will most likely be going to Hueco Mundo, so don't fret.**

**Fushigiarisu13: Thank you!**

**Alright, I'm off to school now. Later,**

**-Shinigami.**


	12. More Iggy and Ichigo!

_**HAPPY NEW YEAR!  
Hello there! I haven't seen you in a while!**_

_**Sorry for such a late update, but I have an excuse! My brother broke my USB, which held ALL of my stories. All of them! That's over one hundred drafts! Luckily, I have a genius computer guy as a neighbour, who I babysit for. Soooo, here's chapter twelve!**_

_**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Maximum Ride or Bleach, but I will one day! You'll see!**_

* * *

The meeting of captains was a sea of murmuring, all of the topics revolved around the strange winged girl, Max, and her current situation.

"I wonder where she will be placed," Unohana Retsu commented suddenly, catching the attention of her colleagues.

Kyoraku tipped his sakkat, smiling at his white haired best friend. "I have a pretty good idea. You've said so yourself, she seems quite happy in the 13th division."

Ukitake smiled at the man. "Yes, Max-chan spends much of her spare time with my squad."

"Then, if she is so comfortable, she should be placed there," Unohana commented.

"Yes, although I would love to be able to watch how the girl copes in battle training," Mayuri Kurotsuchi said, smiling devilishly.

"Eh, Byakuya, didn't you meet Max-chan before she went into the academy. Would she fit into your squad?" Questioned Kyoraku, turning to the silent man.

The Kuchiki glanced at his comrade, before shaking his head slowly. "I have no interest in having such a girl in my division."

"Is that because Kurosaki had to break her out of your holding cells?" Hitsugaya spoke up, opening on eye to glance at the noble, who's eye gave an almost unnoticeable twitch.

That question gripped the attention of on rather loud captain in the room. Kenpachi suddenly burst out laughing at the man, gripping his sides. "Ichigo seriously rescued _another_ kid from you, Kuchiki?"

Iggy didn't exactly know what was going on. He couldn't hear Gazzy or Angel's voices around him; all he could hear was soft breathing and the distant sound of a television playing.

"Do you think he'll wake up soon, Karin?" Asked a young voice to Iggy's left.

"He's already awake, Yuzu! He's just faking it," A rougher voice responded. The strawberry blonde was surprised the stranger was able to notice he had woken up. Usually people carried on thinking he was unconscious until the boy actually spoke.

"Really? Wow, how do you know that?"

"It's obvious."

The teen tensed slightly as the pair padded forward, stopping at the bed he was lying on. "Hey, you can stop pretending now. Where's your family?" Asked the second girl, shaking his shoulder.

Iggy frowned, opening his eyes and sitting up. "How did I get here?" He asked the two.

"Uh… Somebody dropped you off at our clinic. We patched you up fine, but…"

Iggy nodded, rubbing his neck. "Do you know who the person was?"

There was a small pause. "No. They just rang the doorbell and left. We'd tell you if we could," Said the timid voice. "I-I'll get you some new clothes, those ones are dirty. You look about Ichi-nii's size.." She commented, he heard the girl race out of the room.

"Who's Ichi-nii?" He quizzed the second girl, turning in her direction.

"He's my older brother. Why haven't you opened your eyes yet?" She asked, suspicious.

Iggy shrugged. "There's no point," He replied, opening his eyelids and waving a hand in front of his face calmly.

"You're blind…"

"I hadn't noticed," He replied, grinning. The girl- Karin, he was pretty sure her name was- snorted slightly at the statement, turning away from him.

* * *

"Enter!"

I sighed, fidgeting with my uniform as the guards opened the large doors for me. I had another meeting with the captains, oh joy. I walked in, staring at the Sotaichou as he started talking once again.

"After much deliberation, it has been decided that you shall enter the ranks of the 13th Division, under Ukitake-taichou. Seeing as you have no experience with fighting hollows, and Ukitake-taichou is not able to train you constantly, you will be under instruction of Hitsugaya-taichou."

_Are you kidding me? I have to take orders from the midget now? _I frowned at the thought, but nodded anyway.

"I understand," I replied after a minute, bowing.

Ukitake smiled at me when I glanced at him.

* * *

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Karin glanced up from her video game, sighing. "Yuzu! Someone's at the door! Hey Yuzu!" The girl waited a moment, but didn't hear her twin moving towards the front door. She sighed, jumping off the sofa and walking to the front of the house lazily. She yanked the door open and looked out, blinking.

"Uh, do you need something?" She asked, looking at the surprisingly tall, but still young looking, children. "Are you lost?"

The two shook their heads in unison. The girl stepped forward, blinking her large blue eyes at Karin. "Our brother is here…" She announced.

"You're brother… you mean the blind guy?"

"Yeah! Is he here?" Asked the boy.

Karin nodded. "Yeah, do you want me to take you to him?" The two nodded their heads eagerly, the dark haired Kurosaki turned on her heel, wandering down the hall to the clinic doors. She opened them and led the children inside. "Hey, you have visitors!" She called, wandering over to his cot.

The boy sat up immediately, staring in their direction.

"Ig!" The two cheered, running forward and landing on his cot, practically tackling the strawberry blonde.

Karin raised an eyebrow, watching the three speak in low murmurs. After a few moments, the little blonde girl glanced back at her. "You fixed him up," She stated. "Thank you."

"It's fine… Where're your parents?" Karin quizzed.

The three looked between each other, silently debating something. "We don't have parents," The young boy said matter-of-factly, earning a look from the others.

"I see…"

* * *

"Max. Get up."

I squinted, rubbing my eyes. "What do you want? It's too early to deal with you, Hitsugaya," I moaned, rolling over and covering my head with my pillow.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, crouching on my windowsill. "Get up. We're going to the World of the Living."

I jumped up, staring at him. "What? Why? When do we leave?" I asked in a rush.

Hitsugaya smirked. "Well, if I'm going to train you, then you have to come with us. We leave as soon as you're dressed."

I nodded, quickly getting into my shihakushō and grabbing my zanpakutō, before walking out of my new room –inside the 13th Division barracks- and following Hitsugaya.

We met up with Renji, Rangiku, and two other shinigami by the Senkaimon. "Max-chan~!" Rangiku sang as we approached. The woman bounded over and crushed me to her chest, patting my head affectionately.

"Uh… Hi, Rangiku," I muttered, wriggling out of her hug.

"You're a shinigami now! So you're coming with us to the World of the Living, right?" She asked, brimming with excitement.

Hitsugaya sighed, folding his arms. "Before we leave, I think an introduction is in order. Max, you've met Matsumoto before. These two are Madarame Ikkaku," He motioned to a grinning bald man. "And Ayasegawa Yumichika. You two, this is Ride Max. She's under my instruction."

"Heh, you're the newbie, then?" Said Ikkaku, smirking at me. "You don't seem like much, although you seem to have a pretty good reiatsu."

"Is your hair naturally like this?" Asked Yumichika, appearing by my side; he lifted a lock of my hair, examining it carefully.

"Yeah…" I replied, slowly moving away from him.

"Let's go already. We have to meet up with Kuchiki," Hitsugaya demanded with a sigh.

"Yes, sir!" The other three said together, as we ran through the Senkaimon doors.

* * *

"Angel?"

"Yes, Iggy?"

"Did you have anything to do with Mr Kurosaki's decision to let us stay here?"

"No, not at all! Why would you think that?"

"…"

The blonde turned, looking at Iggy. "He is really gullible, I didn't need to do anything to him," She replied, smiling. "You should hear him. It's so funny," She continued, giggling slightly.

"Yeah, and I found this!" Gazzy added, holding up a large framed poster of a smiling woman. "It says Masaki or something."

"…Have you heard anything from Fang?" Iggy asked.

The two looked between each other. "Iggy… we haven't spoke to him since before we were attacked. We couldn't find him in Karakura," Angel reported.

Iggy sighed, resting his arms on his knees. "I see. Alright, we have to start figuring out how to contact Max again."

* * *

Gigais are uncomfortable, I'll tell you that now.

"So? Where the heck is it?" Ikkaku asked as we wandered through the halls.

"How should I know?" Rangiku retorted, flipping her hair.

Everyone looked at her for a moment. "Wait a minute. I thought you wrote it down before we left the Seireitei," Renji added.

"I lost it."

"Oh, that's just great!"

"I figured Renji could lead us, right? You've been here before, you should know where you're going!" She exclaimed.

"What're you talking about, you've been here too!"

"Uh, I know, but it was such a short time! What about you, Max-chan? You were here recently!"

I rolled my eyes at her, folding my arms. "I was in Karakura for one day, Rangiku. Why would I enter a school in that time?"

"Enough already, just search for his reiatsu," Hitsugaya ordered.

"Man… I can't believe the weird clothes they all wear…"

I looked at Ikkaku, raising an eyebrow. "That's a uniform."

"The students are _required_ to wear one," Renji explained.

Rangiku laughed. "Well listen to you Mr Smarty-Pants!" Renji sighed, looking out the window as we walked.

"Give me a break! Besides, I don't think that's the standard uniform," He commented, gesturing to Rangiku's open shirt.

"How're you supposed to move in these clothes? They're so _tight_!" Ikkaku complained angrily.

"Yeah, well maybe you should try untucking your shirt like the rest of us," Yumichika advised.

"What are you, crazy? If I did that I wouldn't be able to put my sword through my belt!"

Renji turned his head to Ikkaku. "A wooden sword really isn't part of the uniform."

"For crying out loud! You're the ones who said I wasn't allowed to bring a real sword, so a brought a wooden one!"

Yumichika sighed. "We're not the ones who make the rules! It's a law here in the World of the Living."

"Well, it's ridiculous! What stupid law says you can't carry a real sword?"

I looked at the bald man. "I can think of a few reasons why they have it."

"What's the big deal? I actually kind of like these clothes!" Rangiku said, smiling.

Renji snorted. "That's easy for you to say. You only like them because they show off your—"

"Shut up, you guys! We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, so just walk quietly and try to blend in!"

"Yes sir," The group sighed.

We arrived outside a door, a large '1-3' was printed above it. Hitsugaya stopped in front of it, making the rest of us halt as well. "This is the room. Go on, open the door."

Rangiku pushed the door open, catching the attention of the rooms occupants. Renji stood next to me, raising his hand in a wave. "Yo! What's goin' on, Ichigo?" He asked casually.

The red head turned to us after a second, looking stunned. "R-Renji? Tōshirō, even Max? Wait a minute, what're you guys doing here?"

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. "That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you."

"Yeah, fine, but I don't understand why you're here. Max, shouldn't you still be at the academy?"

I shook my head, smirking. "I got out early."

"Orders from above," Renji explained to the boy. "It looks like there's a major storm brewing with the arrancars. We were sent here to join forces with the substitute shinigami and prepare for battle."

"A-Arrancar? What the hell is that?"

"What? You're not serious, are you? You mean you've been fighting these guys without any idea what you're up against? Even Max knows more than you."

"What're you talking about?"

"You dummy!"

We turned, staring at the figure standing in the windowsill. "He's talking about those guys who beat you up the other day."

"Rukia…"

* * *

_**Pwoah! Done!**_

_**Once again, I am extremely sorry for such a long wait. But it really wasn't my fault! I swear!  
Anyway, this is the next chapter. My question to you is…  
What do you think I should do with Iggy and the rest of the Flock?  
TO MY LOVELY REVIEWERS!**_

**Vani Parfait: Yes I did update, and yes I do have Facebook. If you like, I will message you my details. WAAH! I promise not to forget to give you credit if I use one of you supermegaawesome ideas! Itachi as Byakuya! Byakuya as Itachi! Genius. Wait…. If you cat eats one of your animal crackers like a tiger or lion…would that make it… a cannibal? (I'm not even sure if they make lion animal crackers, to be honest I have never seen them…) Thank you very much for you review!**

**Moonlight Pheonix: Thank you, my dear. That is extremely flattering.**

**X-The-Final: Hm, Iggy as a shinigami. Oh dear lord, he would do some DAMAGE! Watch out, blind pyro with a huge ass sword! Yes, thank you. I am such a rebel! Ha ha, thank you for the review!**

**Fayfan: Thank you very much. Late reviews are fine with me, they're better than no reviews. OH MY GOD! I NEED TO PUT A CHAPTER IN WHERE MAX GETS DRUNK! Thank you so damn much for that idea! As always, thank you for reviewing.**

**NicoXChiku says Cata: OH HELLO THERE, MY AWESOME LITTLE NUDGE! Your reviews are very entertaining to read. Thank you for such enthusiasm in your messages!**

**MangaMagic: That would be creepy. *shifty eyes* Thank you!**

**WingedHero540: Yes, yes he must! As to your Ari idea, I will most likely use that, if not then use some points from it. OH MY LORD! I forgot about Hichigo! Now you have got me planning, I hope you're happy with yourself.**

**Verdigurl: Why, hello there. Yes, it is a tad sad that you haven't watched- WAIT, WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED BLEACH? WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE? Dear lord, girl, go watch it right now! But thank you for the review :D**

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	13. A Place To Stay and Arrancars Arrive!

**Chapter 13**

**Hello there!**

**Le Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or Maximum Ride**

* * *

"Rukia…"

"Shut up," I ordered. Rukia jumped from the window, landing a kick in Ichigo's face. I grunted as we both stumbled back. "What the hell was that for?" He yelled.

After a moment, I caught the shinigami's eye and nodded, jumping onto Ichigo's back, pinning his arms to his sides. The red head spluttered, twisting his head to look at me. "What the-?"

Rukia regained his attention, slapping Ichigo a few times harshly. "HEY!" The boy bellowed.

"It was for your pathetic fight!" She yelled back, grabbing his head with a gloved hand. I jumped down as she tore Ichigo's soul from his body, Renji caught it. "Come on!" She teased, jumping back out of the window, dragging Ichigo along.

"I should have figured this wouldn't be easy," Rangiku muttered as I took Ichigo's body from Renji and placed it in the seat, making him look a little less… dead.

"That's Ichigo…" Renji murmured. "He manages to make _everything_ difficult."

Ikkaku scowled. "Well, you can't blame Rukia for giving him hell with that stupid look on his face."

"You thought he looked stupid? Well, I don't know… I thought he looked kind of helpless and cute," Rangiku countered, smiling, I rolled my eyes.

"Have you ever seen a guy you _didn't_ think was cute, Rangiku?" Yumichika shot.

"Who asked you, Yumichika? Why don't you mind your own business?"

Yumichika turned to her. "Well what about Ikkaku? He said something too!"

"Leave me out of this," Ikkaku growled.

The strawberry blonde turned to me, smirking. "What about you, Max-chan? Do you think that Ichigo looked cute?" She asked, moving towards me.

"I…uh…" I stuttered, surprised she was asking my input on whether the guy we had just practically assaulted was _cute_.

"This is ridiculous!" Tōshirō yelled. "All of you, shut up!"

"What happened to Kurosaki? After those girls beat him up, he went all limp…"

"Did he faint or something…? Or maybe they killed him!"

We turned around, staring at the students curiously. I sighed, shaking my head as the antics continued. "Whatever, all I know is they don't look like anybody I would wanna mess with, look at them! Do you see the tattoos all over the guy with the red hair?"

Renji growled from next to me.

"Don't let them get to you, Renji. It's just humans and their silly chatter," Ikkaku muttered to him.

"Well, those girls don't look too scary," Someone commented, the group looked at Rangiku and I. "Yeah, and he looks like an elementary school student with silver hair. Eyebrow boy can't be too tough, and then there's _baldy_."

Ikkaku stiffened, turning on his heel immediately.

"Well, whoever just called me 'Baldy', step forward," He called, pulling his sword out of his belt.

Renji shoved his hands into his pockets, stepping forward. "Don't let it get to you, _Ikkaku_. It's just the humans' silly chatter."

Ikkaku stepped toward the group of students, making them scatter like cockroaches as he shouted at them.

I glanced at Hitsugaya, who was growing even more impatient with us. I walked over to the seat next to Ichigo's body, falling into it and resting my head on my fist.

**SLAM!**

"Hey! Who's the one causing a disturbance in here? Don't you know that's my job?" A rather stupid looking boy screamed from the doorway.

Ikkaku turned, standing in front of the boy menacingly. "Who're you?" He growled. When the boy didn't answer, the baldy grabbed him by the tie, pulling him forward. "Speak up! You shaggy little worm! Start talking or I'll slice you up into little pieces and feed you to the dogs for breakfast!"

**Smack!**

Rangiku made a face, using the hand she just smacked Ikkaku with to pat his head a few times. "Take it easy, will ya, Baldy? Chill out."

"Keep slapping my head like that, Rangiku; that is, if you wanna lose your hand!" He shouted back. Rangiku scowled at him.

"Shut up. Cut out the whining or I'll have to tell Yachiru about this," She threatened, grabbing Ikkaku's attention.

"No! No, no, please! Don't do that! I'll keep it under control, I swear," He said humbly. I tilted my head, confused. I hadn't been given the opportunity to meet the lieutenant of the eleventh division, but the way Ikkaku seemed to shiver at her name made me think it must be someone fairly scary. I wasn't sure I wanted to meet her right away.

"I shouldn't have to remind you in the first place, so don't make me do it again," She scolded him. "Now as for the rest of you idiots, let's get moving, we've got a lot to do!" She said, clapping her hands.

"Your reference to idiots couldn't have included us, now, could it?" Hitsugaya growled, standing by the desk I had occupied.

"Of course not! You and Max-chan aren't like the rest of them, Taichou," She reassured him. I turned, watching the kid in the doorway stare at Rangiku creepily.

"Um, Rangiku?" I spoke up.

"M-MAYBE YOU SHOULD LET ME CHECK THOSE SHIRT BUTTONS FOR YOOOUUU-!" I smirked as Rangiku knocked the boy away carelessly with a fist.

"Hm, you think he's alright? He sure went down hard," Ikkaku muttered as we filed out of the classroom.

"Forget him, we have to go!" Rangiku announced.

* * *

We arrived outside Ichigo's house some ten minutes later, each of us easily scaling the rooftop in moments. I went to follow the others when Hitsugaya grabbed my wrist. "Come this way, they're just making things harder for themselves," He advised.

I nodded, dropping down from the roof and landing on Ichigo's windowsill. The others had made themselves known, and were seated on Ichigo's bed.

"Is this a mission or a party?" He asked.

I pulled the windowsill open for Hitsugaya to speak. "In any case, we know that Aizen has his eye on you for some reason, Kurosaki Ichigo, and that's not good."

Rangiku turned around, looking happy. "Taichou! You and Max-chan should have come through the ceiling with us in the first place, we didn't do that much damage after all!"

"Have you two been sitting on that ledge all this time? In plain sight? What if the neighbours report a silver haired elementary student burglar with a high school student accomplice?"

"Or were you and Max-chan having alone time?" Rangiku teased, I glared at her, my face heating up.

"Shut up!" We both snapped. I slid inside anyway, sitting next to Rukia. "It's true enough that an Arrancar is born when the mask is removed from a hollow; but simply taking the mask of any run of the mill hollow wouldn't result in anything particularly dangerous. Anyone who was serious about declaring war on the Soul Society would need something big, something strong. Menos level and above."

"Above a menos?" Ichigo spoke up. "Hold on. Are you trying to tell me there are hollows out there that are stronger than the menos?"

"Yes," Hitsugaya replied.

* * *

"Those two are unbelievable."

Iggy looked up, his hands folded behind his head as Karin stormed into the clinic. "Eh?"

"Oh, sorry," The girl apologized. "My family is being stupid again."

Iggy sat up at he felt the girl sit on the edge of his cot. "What's going on? I heard a lot of yelling before…" He asked.

"My brother bought a girl home. Yuzu and Goat-chin went crazy over it and were trying to listen to them."

Iggy snorted. "It sounds like someone I know."

"Who?"

"Me. I used to do all the spying around the house when Max and-," He paused, frowning. Iggy looked towards the cot next to his own. He could hear Angel and Gazzy's tired breathing, they were still in deep sleep.

"…Anyway, Yuzu should be making dinner soon. I'll bring some by later for you three," Karin announced, sensing his hesitance with the subject Iggy had stumbled onto.

He nodded sadly. "Yeah, thanks."

* * *

I groaned as Rangiku and Renji examined Kon. Ichigo soon ended up asking Renji questions until he asked something that we all looked up at.

"Where the hell are you all planning on sleeping?" He asked. "Let me make this perfectly clear, we don't have enough space for you all to stay here."

"Ahh~! You don't mean me, do you?" Rangiku asked, batting her eyelashes at the orange-top.

"Yikes, what the hell? He yelled. "No way! You've gotta be kidding me! You are the _last_ person I'd let stay here! What makes you think I would in the first place?"

Rangiku blinked for a moment, before her hands went to the buttons on her shirt. "Gaah! What do you think you're doing? You can't change my mind by undoing a button!" HE yelled. After a moment, he slapped his hands over his eyes. "Not even if you lift your skirt a little! Damn it! I will not give in to temptation! A man like me does not give in to temptation!"

"Then why are you peeking through your fingers?" Rukia asked. I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"Well, for now, I'll be Orihime's guest and sleep in her bed!"

"Sounds good. Did you get permission from her yet?" Ichigo asked.

Rangiku smiled, waving her hand. "No, but I'm sure I can arrange something." After slamming Kon to the ground –again- she turned to Hitsugaya. "Taichou, how would you like to come?"

"No way, I won't!" He replied shortly, turning on his heel and walking away.

"You should come, it'll be fun!" Rangiku attempted, wandering away from the house with the white haired midget.

Ikkaku stepped forward next, Yumichika by his side. "We better get going as well."

"You have somewhere to stay?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course I don't. There's no need to worry, the last thing I'd do is depend on you," He sighed, walking away in the opposite direction of Rangiku. "I'll find a place to stay on my own."

Renji stepped forward while Ichigo shouted warnings at the bald man. "Well then, I guess I'll be going to Urahara's for a while."

"You're gonna mooch off him again?"

"Of course not, just what're you saying? However… there is something I wanna ask him about…"

"Be careful, now!" Rukia called, waving.

Ichigo turned, looking at us. "So, have you figured out where you two will be staying?" We glanced at him, then each other, before dashing inside. "H-Hey!" He called after us. While Ichigo and Rukia shouted at each other, I threw myself onto Ichigo's bed, ducking under the covers. The two burst in a few moments later.

"Don't worry, Ichigo," I assured him. "I've lived on less before. I'll just sleep on your roof, the thing I need is food."

Ichigo groaned, rubbing his neck. "Don't be stupid, Max. You can sleep inside. I'll figure something out," He told me. I sat up, surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah, in fact, I have a plan," Rukia announced, giving me a thumbs up.

"And now, you see… We are both without a place to call our own…" Rukia started, looking crestfallen.

"…And a means to get on our feet again…" I ended, wiping away my 'tears' (also known as eye drops) with a handkerchief.

"O-Oh… We should let them stay!" Yuzu cried, hugging her father.

"OF COURSE, YUZU! There's no doubt that this is the right decision! There's always Room under this roof for Rukia-chan and Max-chan!" He sobbed.

Rukia and I both shared a victorious glance over our shoulders at Ichigo. "What're you doing? You'll blow our cover!"

"MOTHER! DID YOU HEAR THAT, MOTHER? WE HAVE FOUR DAUGHTERS, NOW!"

"…I can't believe that worked…." Ichigo muttered, I nodded with surprised agreement.

* * *

I was lounging around on Ichigo's bed later on when I felt it. I shot up, almost dropping the book I was trying to read. The door was wrenched open by Ichigo, who nodded at me.

"What is that? Arrancars?" I asked, jumping off the bed. Rukia ran in, passing a small candy to me.

"Yes," She confirmed. I swallowed the pill and stepped out of my gigai, nodding to Ichigo and Rukia.

I jumped out of the window, unfurling my wings and shooting off, searching for Hitsugaya's reiatsu. I joined up with him after a few minutes of flying. I pulled up next to him, landing next to him and Rangiku.

"Hitsugaya!"

"Max. You're a brand new shinigami, so you have to be careful. Leave most of the fighting to us," He said seriously. "You're my responsibility, so don't try to be a hero," he ordered.

"…Right," I nodded grudgingly.

"Good. Get ready for battle… They are here."

We turned, staring as three arrancars appeared in front of us. "So fast…"

"Pleasure to meet you," Said a tall, thin arrancar, before appearing in front of Hitsugaya. The two clashed swords.

"Taichou!" Rangiku called, jumping back as the larger of the three lunged at her. I dived out of the way as a pointy nosed arrancar jumped at me.

"I am the eleventh arrancar, Shawlong," The arrancar dealing with Hitsugaya announced.

I refocused on the arrancar attacking me, spinning out of the way and landing on a rooftop. "And who're you, not that I really care," I asked, drawing my zanpakutō from my hip.

"I'm the thirteenth arrancar, Leigo. What exactly are you?" She asked, scowling at me.

"Member of the Thirteenth Division, Maximum Ride. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I don't really give a crap."

Leigo smirked, flicking her short dark hair out of her face. "The two thirteenths, eh? Well, it seems we might just have some fun!"

I scowled, shooting towards her. Our zanpakutō clashed together and she laughed. Things were about to get interesting.

* * *

**Yeah… I'm not too sure that I'm satisfied with how this chapter turned out… Oh well, I'll just have to try harder!**

**To the lovelies that review!**

_**fayfan: THANK YOU! Oh my lord, that would be so funny! Of course, a few buildings would probably end up being destroyed as a result… AWESOME!**_

_**Vani Parfait: POCKY? OM NOM NOM! Harhar, I need some serious help… Yes, Iggy in the same house as Max will be quite fun to write, when they end up realizing that the other is there… Anyways, thank you for the review, as always!**_

_**Verdigurl: Oh NO! How dare he! **_

_**_?: Hmm, I think he should… I will have to think about that!**_

_**Toycentral567: Awh, thank you very much! I shall keep writing if you keep reading! Thanks :]**_

_**WingedHero540: Oh lord, my brain is overloading just thinking about all this! Fullbring abilities? I shall think about it. Thank you for the review, as always!**_

_**chifuyuu: HAINEKO-CHAN! YOU MADE YOURSELF KNOWN! YEY! Actually, I don't have that much of a life… I'm just lazy. Ha… but I will try to bring out another chapter faster than this! I promise!**_

**So…. Yeah? **

**Later!**

**-Shinigami**


	14. The Battle!

**Chapter 14 woohoo!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Maximum Ride….**

…**.yet**

* * *

"Gah!"

I hit the roof with a grunt, tucking my wings in and rolling off the side. I jumped along the rooftops, away from the cackling arrancar.

"There's no use in running away! I'll just catch up, shinigami!" Leigo shouted from behind me. I scowled, gripping the hilt of my zanpakutō tightly.

_She has a point, _I thought grudgingly. _I'll just wear myself out running from someone faster than me. But I don't know how to use my zanpakutō yet! What should I do? _

"Nothing to say, huh?"

I gasped, skidding to a stop. The woman stood in front of me, her arms folded. "Yeah, I'm pretty fast, if you haven't noticed."

"You can't use shunpo, though!" I yelled, confused.

"You're right, I can't! This is called sonído, it's something we arrancars pick up. Don't worry, this should all be over soon," She taunted, smirking at me.

I glared at her, drawing my zanpakutō. "Don't count on it!"

"So you've got some fight in you? That's good; I love it when they have some spirit in them!" Leigo shouted, grinning. I realized then just how sharp her teeth were, like razors. I supressed a shudder and lunged at her, swinging the katana down.

She deflected me easily, smacking my zanpakutō away with her own. I looked to my right and stared at Rangiku in shock. She was lying one of the rooftops, the lump of an arrancar leaning over her.

"Rangiku!"

My attention was drawn back to Leigo as she appeared next to me, I felt her hand connect with my cheek and I was sent flying.

"_**What are you doing, Max? If you don't focus, you're dead for real this time!"**_

_Thanks, Voice, but don't you think I already know that?_

"_**Obviously you're not if you're worrying about the other shinigami. They're managing on their own, so focus!"**_

I grunted, managing to land on my hands and feet not far from Hitsugaya. I had to stare at him as I got up, even for just a second. He had a pair of ice wings attached to his back, along with a tail and claw-like things covering his hands. _That must be his bankai…_

"Will you hurry up and fight me? Just beating you up is no fun at all!" Leigo yelled, I narrowed my eyes.

_Think, Maximum Ride, think! What's her weakness? _I narrowed my eyes, feeling my cheek begin to swell and throb. _She paused before she attacked me, it was only for a second, but it was enough for me to realize she was there. But will she do it again?_

I watched her come closer to me. "You really are dumb," She commented, sonídoing in front of me. After a second, she grabbed at me. I ducked, breaking into a shunpo and leading her away from the others.

"Back to running away, then?" She cackled. "Is that the only thing you can do? You aren't very bright, are you, girl?"

I stopped, turning to her. She landed next to me. _Here's your chance… _I drew my zanpakutō and ducked, slicing at her.

"Gah!"

I smirked in triumph, jumping backwards. "I'm not so dumb now, am I?" I asked. Leigo glared at me, holding at horizontal gash that ran along her uncovered stomach, just above her hollow hole.

"You little brat! Don't get cocky!" She yelled.

She lunged at me, kicking her legs out at me. I swerved, only getting clipped on the hip by her foot. I whipped around, zanpakutō swinging. Our blades clashed, the sound resonated in my ears for a moment.

"Heh, you're just like the others. As soon as it looked like you have a chance, you think you're invincible," She said, her grinning face looked on the brink of splitting in half.

I frowned. "I don't know who you've fought before, but I'm not like any of them," I replied, pushing her away. She laughed manically and threw the zanpakutō into the ground next to her. I jumped away and stared at her.

"If you're so sure about that, I can't hold back. I'll show you just how much you _are_ like the others," She said. "Whip, Castigador!"

* * *

"Iggy, please sit down!"

"You're gonna hurt yourself again!"

The strawberry blonde grunted, struggling against the four kids holding on to him. Karin and Yuzu were trying to convince the boy to stay in his cot, but it wasn't working, even with The Gasman and Angel to help. He was persistent.

"I have to go outside; can't you hear all the fighting going on? She's out there, I know it!"

Angel grunted, her legs off the ground as she tried to pull Iggy back down. "Iggy, please stop! You'll die if you go out there!" She screamed.

"I have to find her!"

"Iggy, sit down or we'll get Ichi-nii down here!" Karin yelled.

Gazzy glanced at the dark haired Kurosaki. "Who's that?"

"He's our big brother," Yuzu explained.

After a few more moments of struggling, Iggy relented and fell back into his cot. "Fine, but I'm going out there tomorrow!"

"We'll come!" Shouted the two feathered siblings.

"Then it's settled. Until tomorrow, you can't go outside, alright?" Karin said. She waited until the three nodded in agreement before she and her sister left the clinic.

* * *

I curled myself into a ball as best as I could as I was swung through the air. Crashing through fences and slamming into a wall. I groaned and pulled myself up, unwrapping the whip that had curled around my ankle. I ran as fast as I could as Leigo pulled the bullwhip back.

It wasn't any regular bullwhip, because they usually wouldn't be able to reach me when I was fifty feet or so away from Leigo. This one did, though. And something was weird about it. I had only been hit with it once, but my ankle had started feeling funny as soon as I had been released from the weapon. For one, it hurt like hell, more than I thought it would. And I could feel my leg getting heavier with every step I took, along with my shoulders, where the arrancar had struck me before.

"Shit…"

"Max!" I whipped my head around, staring at Rangiku. "Get ready!"

"For what?" I yelled, dodging Leigo's whip by diving behind a corner. I stood up and gasped, holding on to the wall for a moment. Torrents of reiatsu hit me at once. They were all from shinigami, which was good, but being as unprepared as I was for it, I felt like a wrecking ball had been dropped on me.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" I grunted, looking around for Leigo. She wasn't trying to chase me anymore. In fact, she wasn't moving at all. She was relying completely on her whip.

I hoisted myself onto the roof of the nearest house and stared at the arrancar. Her bone-like armour had overtaken most of her head, as well as her right arm, connecting it to the whip.

"I'm right here, come and get me!" I yelled, watching her closely. She turned her upper body toward me, not moving her feet at all. She flicked her whip menacingly, lashing it out at me. I jumped into the air, snapping my wings out and shooting off.

"Come back here, birdie!" I heard her faint voice call.

I slowed down and turned, looking down at the town. It was easy enough to spot where different battles were taking place. Hitsugaya wasn't far away, to my right a little and a fair way down.

"COME DOWN HERE!" Leigo screamed up at me, my sharp sight caught the enraged look on her face.

"Why won't you come up! I know you can!" I shouted, diving down until I was just out of the reach of her whip. "Or can't you move your legs?" I muttered, inspecting the arrancars feet. The armour had melted down into a skirt, pooling at her feet. It seemed to be pinning her to the spot.

"_**Use that to your advantage, Max," **_The Voice whispered.

_Thanks, because I never would have thought to do that! _I thought sarcastically. _But how do I avoid that whip?_

"_**Max, will you trust my directions?" **_

My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. _You're awfully chatty. _

"_**Well, I don't feel like letting you die just yet. Now do as I say, it will help you."**_

_Right…_

I sighed, seeing no other option but to listen to the Voice. I tucked my wings in, dropping from the sky like a stone. My hair whipped around my face when I flipped into a nose-dive at the ground, leaving the Voice as my guide. _**"Now unfurl!" **_ I snapped my wings out, wincing as they caught me before I went splat. I flew as low as I could manage; I could almost touch the ground if I let my legs drop.

"_**When you turn this corner, I want you to fly as fast as you can."**_

I wanted to object, but it wasn't the time to doubt the Voice's sanity. I made a hard turn and went hyper-speed, shooting down the walkway. I held my zanpakutō out in front of me, clutching it as tightly as possible with my shaking hands.

"_**Now!"**_

I thrust the katana down. It connected with Leigo's back, the force behind my flight sending us both flying into the nearest building. I sat up in the rubble, looking around. Leigo was lying not far from me, the mask around her head had cracked, and I had left a fairly impressive slash from her shoulder, down her back and ending in her thigh.

"You think that will stop me, shinigami?" Her hoarse voice called out. She slowly got to her feet, walking over to me. I scrambled back, gripping my zanpakutō. "Just because you're fast in the air doesn't mean you're so quick on the ground!" She yelled, lunging at me. Her sharp nails raked along my sides, trying to claw as much of me as possible. I shoved her back, swinging my zanpakutō, but she dodged easily. I pulled myself up and ran, taking off.

"Not so fast!" She hissed, grabbing my leg and pulling me down. I yelled in protest, screaming when she resorted to slicing through my right wing with her blade. I fell to the ground, trying to protect my wings from Leigo, but seeing as I couldn't tuck them in anymore, they were quite an easy target.

"Oh, so you want to protect your precious wings, do you? Well, that's too bad, little bird!" She taunted, slashing at me again, blood began leaking from the new wound in my wing. "I'm just a little kitty playing with my kill~!" She said in a sing-song voice, cackling.

I grunted, cursing. Flight wasn't an option, and if I didn't fight, I'd be dying tonight.

_A little help here? _I thought frantically, jumping away from her katana.

"_**Max, you aren't ready! You've only been linked with me for a little over a month, it takes decades for shinigami to reach shikai."**_

_But I'm-_

"_**You aren't ready! It will put you in more danger, not less!"**_

_Then how will I get out of here alive?_

"Well, well. What do we have here? A winged girl… I'll have to keep an eye on you, won't I?"

I snapped my head up, staring at the blonde in front of me. He had on hand in his pocket, the other was gripping Leigo's skull. She glared up at him, frozen. He smirked at me, his narrowed brown eyes memorizing my face.

"Who the hell are you?" Leigo growled, turning to try and stab at him.

"Oh, shut it," He said lazily, rolling his eyes. I lay there, watching as he crushed her skull – protective armour and all- without even looking twice at her.

"You should probably be thanking me, but that can wait until the next time I see you," he said, smirking down at me as Leigo's body dissolved.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"That can wait. Don't worry…" He said, smiling at me. I opened my mouth to say something else, but he disappeared.

_Who was that?_

I tried to sit up, but instantly regretted it. All my adrenaline had worn off, and the pain I had felt before increased tenfold. I winced in pain, slumping back into the rubble.

"Damn it…"

"MAX!"

* * *

I groaned, throwing my arm over my eyes. "What's the deal? Turn the lights off!" I demanded sleepily.

"Well, at least we know she hasn't been affected mentally."

"Yeah, she's back to her normal self again…"

I huffed, trying to block out the voices before the past events hit me. "…Ichigo!" I yelled, whipping my head around.

"Max, calm down," Renji said, touching my shoulder. "You'll open your stiches."

I looked around the unfamiliar room, confused. "Where am I?"

"We're in Urahara Shōten," He explained. "Orihime had her hands full last night so Ichigo carried you here to be patched up."

"He carried me here? Where is he?" I asked.

The lieutenant helped me to my feet and sighed. "I'm not sure where he is, he needed some alone time."

"Right…"

"You may want to stay here for some time, Max-chan," Said Urahara, the smirking owner of the shop. "With those wounds, you won't be able to close your wings for a while. You're welcome to stay here."

I looked over at Renji. "Is he weird?"

The red head smirked. "Very weird, but he's got a point. This is probably the best place for you right now."

"Right…"

* * *

_**Wow, okay, done! I'm so sorry, I'm not very good at fight scenes. I suck at them, which is why I took so long with this chapter.**_

_**BEFORE YOU GO AND ASK WHY THERE BE NO SHIKAI FOR MAX! I didn't think it would be right for her to gain one so quickly just because she was in a battle. But seeing as she's with Kisuke, she WILL be learning her shikai soon.**_

**The lovely, patient reviewers!**

**Vani Parfait: OMG STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE! Om nom nom! :D oh my god this idea is just so funny I can't even asdfghjkl! I love it! I hope I will be able to fit it in somewhere. Thank you thank you thank you as always!**

**Demonic pixie-chan: Yes, Max will be running into the flock when she get back to the house, and all hell shall break loose. I'm not sure of their relationship, but yes, Rukia and Max will be pretty good friends. Gazzy's old socks? HAHAHAHAHAH! **

**Chifuyuu: Oh why thank you, dear! Yes, she will most likely be meeting Grimmy in Hueco Mundo, so that sort of answers your other question. Hee-hee, thankyou!**

**Anju Makaa: I'm so sorry I'm a terrible updater!**

**Blackenedheart321: Oh my lord, so many 13s! I didn't even notice that I was on the thirteenth chapter until you pointed it out!**

**Readingisdabest: Thank you! Iggy will probably see Max in the next few chapters**

**Jackatlasfan9999: OH MY GOD :O**

**Uniquemangalover: Awh thank you!**

**xAngelReaperx: I'm sorry for being so lazy! **

**Taien: hee-hee! AND THERE YOU GO!**

**Atlantis5296: Oh my lord I love you! Thanks for the review~!**

_**Adios!**_

_**-Shinigami!**_


	15. Reunion

_**No, you aren't dreaming. I AM REALLY UPDATING THIS FAST. OH EM GEE!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own MR or Bleach.**_

* * *

"What happened out here?" Angel wondered out loud. I was crouched a little in front of her, running my fingers along a shallow crater in the ground. I frowned, concentrating on the crater a while longer.

"This was made by Max," I declared. Angel was by my side in a moment. "Don't ask me how I know, I just do. It… feels like her."

Gazzy ran over to us. "Do you think she's okay? She must have been fighting someone pretty tough if they put her into the ground."

"Iggy…" Angel muttered, tugging my shirt. "There's a bunch of blood here…"

"Fresh?"

"Yeah, it's all barely dried, and there's lots of it. Maybe it's someone else's, y'know?" Gazzy suggested.

I wanted to believe that like he was, but I couldn't. I could tell, I don't know how, I just could. The blood was Max's. She was injured. _But if she's injured…where is she?_ I thought, frowning deeply.

"Yeah, maybe…" I muttered. "Come on, let's go back." I stuffed my hands into my pockets, kicking the ground while the others stood up. We began walking back to the Kurosaki house in silence. I felt someone pull at my arm, my hand fell from my pocket and as clutched by Angel's small hand. I sighed, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb in what I hoped was a comforting way.

We returned and Gazzy pushed the door open, I kicked off my shoes and Ange put them all to the side. I snapped my head up when I heard light footsteps.

"What did you find out?" Karin asked, curiosity bubbling in her voice.

"Not much," I lied, following her to the couch and throwing myself down. Angel and Gazzy lay on the floor in front of us, the TV was flicked on by Yuzu, who sat next to Karin.

"What's wrong, Yuzu?" she asked.

"Ichi-nii is still gone, Rukia's gone looking for him," She said, her voice wavering.

Karin snorted. "Don't worry so much, Yuzu, he'll come back soon."

"Who's Rukia?" I asked.

"She's a girl that lives with us and her sister. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her this morning either. What was her name?"

"Oh, you mean Max-chan?" Yuzu asked cheerfully.

My blood froze.

* * *

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. I wanted to talk to Ichigo, but nobody knew where he was, or they wouldn't tell me. Rukia had dropped in during breakfast and told me she would go looking for the brainless red head.

In the meantime, Urahara had me under light exercises, which irritated me to no end. Mostly they involved lightly beating my wings for a few minutes then taking a fifteen minute break. Most of my bodily wounds had already started to heal, but my wing was still as bad as ever.

"You're meant to be breaking right now, why are you still exercising?" Asked Renji, plopping down next to me.

"Aren't you meant to be training with Chad?" I shot back, not letting up the slow fluttering of my wings.

"He's off destroying boulders," Renji announced, sitting down next to me on the dusty ledge. "You really shouldn't be pushing yourself, though. Take your time, Max."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not one to slow down, and this is boring, I should be all headed by the end of the week anyway. Shouldn't I be training with my zanpakutō or something?"

"Ah, all in good time, Max-chan," Urahara interrupted, appearing on my left. "Right now we have to get you back to full strength before we think about wearing you out again."

"Have you figured out where Ichigo has gone yet?" I asked, staring up at the smirking blonde.

He waved his fan at me airily. "Ah, ah. He'll show up soon, you don't have to worry about your boyfriend, I have the feeling he is in good hands."

I spluttered. "W-What! We aren't dating, Urahara!"

Renji smirked at me as the annoying shopkeeper left me with a laugh. "Don't let him get to you, Max, he likes to tease."

"Yeah, right… Go back to your training, ya pineapple!" I replied, pushing him away.

* * *

"Are you saying that I've been living under the same roof as my dead sister without even knowing it? How the hell didn't I know? Where is she now?"

"Ig, calm down," Gazzy muttered.

"When does this Rukia girl come back?" I asked, turning to the twins.

There was a pause, and I spun on my heel. Someone was tapping towards the front door. A few moments later, the door swung open. Yuzu ran past me, followed slowly by Karin.

"Ichi- Oh... Rukia-chan, did you find him?"

"…No, I'm sorry…"

I paused, frowning. I heard that voice before. Just before I showed up at the Kurosaki's, actually… What did she say? Something about dancing?

"Who's this?" Asked Rukia, I looked up, guessing she meant me and the kids.

"Oh, that's Iggy-kun; he's staying with us for a while with his brother and sister. Iggy-kun, this is Rukia-chan!"

"Hey…" I muttered suspiciously.

"Hello…" She replied just as carefully.

There was a pause, and Karin spoke up. "Hey, Rukia. Have you heard about Max yet?"

"Yes, she's with a friend of ours. I'm afraid she was hurt in a fight the other night, and she's learning how to protect herself. She'll be back soon, don't worry!"

Angel projected what I assumed was Rukia's thoughts into my head. A picture of Max appeared in my mind, her wings were extended and I could see there was major damaged to one of them, bandages were wrapped around it.

"What happened to her?" I yelled.

"I-Iggy-kun?" Yuzu asked, worried.

"What happened to Max?" I asked again, although quietly this time.

"I just told you, she got in a fight," Rukia replied.

I frowned. "Can you take me to her?"

Rukia walked towards me, her small hand grabbed my wrist and I was towed outside. I quickly memorized the feel of her hand as we walked. She stopped when we were outside of the house, away from the younger kids.

"How do you know Max?" She asked me, the soft tone she had used in front of the Kurosaki kids had left her voice, making it sound professional.

"She's my sister, how do you know her?" I shot back.

"She's a good friend of mine."

I placed my hands on her small shoulders, staring down around where I guessed her face was. God, she was so small. "Can you take her to me? I need to see her."

"…"

* * *

"Max-chan! How are you?"

I looked up, staring at the red head. "Oh, hey Orihime."

"Well hello! Long time, no see, Orihime-chan!" Urahara called, waving to the girl. She waved at me nervously and walked over to the man.

I sighed, getting to my feet. I climbed up to the shop and grabbed a bite (2 course meal) to eat and sat at the large table, digging in. The shop was eerily quiet for the next fifteen minutes until Orihime came bounding up, looking rather sad.

I sighed, standing up. "Oi, what's wrong?" I asked, catching her arm.

"Oh, don't worry about me, Max-chan, I'm fine," She said, smiling at me.

She ran over to the front door before I could respond, sliding it open. She stood there for a moment, gaining my curiosity.

"Orihime… What's wrong? Why're you in such a rush?"

"O-Oh, Rukia!"

I stood up, walking over to the door. "Hey Rukia," I muttered as Orihime threw herself at the shorter girl.

"Max…"

I pulled my attention away from the two girls, poking my head out of the door.

"Iggy?"

* * *

**Yeah...this is sort of a filler chapter, I know, but shh!**

**Anyways, to the reviewers.**

**_Vani Parfait: Why, thank you! ^-^ Yeah, Aizen's superman impression was kind of funny but it's hella annoying. I hate him so much. Yu Kanda! Swoon~! I have a bit of a thing for that type of character. Thanks, I didn't really want to give her a shikai so quickly, I'm glad nobody is mad at my prolonging it!_  
**

**_alchemist19: Thank you_**

**_uniquemangalover: THANK YOU DARLING_**

**_Anju Makaa: Your wish is my command, I has updated! :D_**

**_Taien: Thank you thank you thank you, and don't worry, I could understand your review just fine. Even if I couldn't, the thought is what counts._**

**_readingisdabest: Heehee!_**

**_demonic pixie-chan: why thank you, I love how you've seen it. Hee-hee!  
_**

**__Laters!**

**-Shinigami**


	16. Chatting

_**Hello!**_

* * *

"Iggy…"

I was in front of the boy in a second, throwing my arms around him. "Why are you here?" I asked, feeling him hug my back tightly.

"It's really you," He breathed. He ran his fingers over my feathers, smiling. I turned my head to Rukia, who was staring at us.

"You brought him here?"

"Yes, I did. He seemed persistent in seeing you. I'll be back," she said, hurrying away with the teary-eyed Orihime.

I pulled Iggy inside, closing the shop door and sitting down at the table with him. I let him finish off my meal before we spoke again. "Your wing is hurt," He declared.

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know about that?"

"Angel."

I sighed, then snapped my head up. "Wait, the Flock is still in Karakura? What are you doing here? You should have left months ago, Iggy!"

"How could we, Max? I had to find out what was going on, and then we…" He trailed off, wincing. I leant forward, worried.

"You what? What happened, Ig?"

"We were attacked," He admitted. "By something the others couldn't see. I got Gazzy and Angel out of the way, and I would have probably died, but… well, that Rukia girl. I'm pretty sure she saved me somehow."

"What about Nudge and Fang? Did they get away?" I asked.

Iggy scowled at the table, sighing. "I haven't seen those two for weeks. Fang and Nudge split as soon as I wanted to go and see Jeb."

"You saw Jeb?"

"Yeah… he was pretty shaken up about you, from what Angel told me," Iggy leaned on his elbows, sighing. "Everyone misses you, Max; the kids want their mom back."

"I'm dead, Ig, I can't just come back and stay with the flock," I replied, running a hand through my hair. "It's not that simple."

"Why can't it be that simple? You've got a body, don't you?" He asked, touching my arm. "Just come back with us."

I shook my head. "Iggy, normal people can't see me. I have a fake body, but it isn't the same as being alive, it's harder to move in and I can't stay in it permanently."

Iggy slammed his fists into the table, glaring furiously at it. "This isn't fair, Max!" He yelled. "Why did you have to die?! Why couldn't you have just stayed with us?"

"Do you really think I wanted to leave you guys?" I shot back at him.

"Of course I don't! I just…" His anger seemed to leave him, and he slumped down, looking slightly defeated. "I just don't know how to do the job you did. I don't know how to take care of the kids and cheer them up, not the way you did."

I deflated, staring at my hands. "I'm sorry, Ig."

"Well, well!" Urahara's cheerful voice interrupted the conversation. I looked up, the man stood in the doorway; his annoying fan hid what I was sure was a smirk. "Who do we have here?"

"Who is this?" Iggy asked me.

"Urahara, how long have you been there?" I demanded.

The blond man snapped his fan shut, no longer trying to hide his grin. "Oh, since young Orihime left the shop. You still haven't introduced me, Max-chan," He said in a teasing voice.

"Ugh… This is Iggy, he's my brother. Ig, this is Kisuke Urahara, he's an ass."

"That's rather mean of you, Max-chan. But I must say, you don't look like siblings," the shop owner pointed out.

"Not blood related," Iggy clarified.

"Ah."

"What do you want, Urahara?" I asked, annoyed the man had interrupted.

He walked over, plopping down next to me. "Oh, I just wanted to see what the yelling was about, and to tell you Tessai will be up soon to see your wounds."

I nodded. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Tessai…?" Iggy asked, looking lost.

"He's the one that patched me up."

His eyes snapped open, as if he had been brought back to his senses. "That reminds me, what happened to your wing?"

"I got hurt in a fight," I said vaguely.

"Let me see it," Iggy muttered. I turned away from him, my wing settled in his lap. If there was one person I could trust to assess my wounds, it was Iggy. He had always been able to help if any of us had hurt our wings, and his extra attentiveness to the feel of our wounds was better than just looking at them.

He undid the bandages; I felt smooth fingers running under my feathers. I flinched slightly when he pressed against the wounds, but kept my mouth shut.

"It's pretty bad. Two deep slashes. The bandages won't do anything to help them, not how they've been wrapped, anyway," Iggy muttered.

"How long will it take to heal?" Urahara asked.

"Probably a couple of days if you stich it up now. Then you have to rewrap it in a certain way. I could show this Tessai guy when he gets here."

Urahara nodded. "That sounds good. You're very good at this, for a blind boy," he noted.

"How do you know he's blind?" I asked, surprised.

Urahara smiled at me. "I used to know a blind man; he was a taichou, actually. They're very attentive to detail."

"What happened to him?" I asked.

Urahara stared at me blankly. "Pardon?"

"The blind taichou. You said you used to know him. What happened to him?" I asked, focusing my attention on the blonde as Iggy poked and prodded along my wing.

"He betrayed the Soul Society and joined Aizen," he replied, frowning.

"How many people joined Aizen?" I wondered, frowning.

Tessai emerged from the basement, staring at us. "Ah, Tessai!" Urahara waved him over. "This is Iggy, he'd like to show you something!"

I frowned as Urahara retreated, leaving Iggy to show Tessai how to stitch and bandage my wing properly. It didn't take too long, Tessai was a fast learner, but I was impatient. Urahara was trying to avoid something.

* * *

After I was wrapped up, I showed Iggy to the training area, where Chad and Renji were still training.

"What the hell is that?" Iggy asked, swinging around when he heard the explosion as Chad was thrown into some boulders.

"That's training," I replied, smirking. "Hey, Renji!" I yelled.

The red head bounded over, rubbing his neck. "Thanks for the break, Chad's getting better…" He muttered, groaning lightly and rolling his shoulder around.

"Is he getting too hard for you to handle?" I asked.

Renji scoffed, rolling his eyes at me. "Hardly. Anyway, what do you need?"

I nodded to Iggy. "This is Iggy. He's my brother. Can you entertain him for a minute or two?"

"Sure, why not? C'mon kid, I'll introduce you to Chad," Renji said, turning towards where he left the large boy.

I sighed, turning and climbing back upstairs. "Urahara!" I yelled. "Hey, Urahara!"

"Yes, Max-chan?" The blonde asked, waving at me from the table. I sat down opposite him, frowning deeply. "What's wrong, Max-chan? You really shouldn't glower in such a way, you'll get wrinkles!"

"Urahara, I want some answers. What's the point of me being a part of all of this if I don't know the whole story?"

He snapped his fan shut, placing it down. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"First, the arrancars… How strong are they? The one I faced… she wasn't anything compared to the other ones, was she?"

"No, unfortunately. From what I gathered, the arrancar you fought was one of the Números. They are combat specialists, but they are far from the most powerful. That is the Espada. Espada are the arrancars with the numbers 1 to 10 on their bodies. Max," he leant forward, staring at me from under his stupid hat. "If you are ever faced against an Espada, I want you to turn and fly as far and as fast as possible. You are no match for them."

"But if I don't stay the other-,"

"The others can handle themselves," he interrupted me. "They've been fighting far longer than you have. I've said the same to Chad. If you fight an Espada, you will die. And this time it'll be permanent."

I stared at my hands, scowling. "I need to get stronger, but the last time my zanpakutō said that I wasn't ready… Is there some way to speed up my training so I can at least get near achieving shikai? I mean, you can do that, right? Ichigo got bankai in three days!"

Urahara stared at me for a few seconds, before he smirked. "I think I may be able to arrange something…"

* * *

**Hm. This chapter is…meeeehhhhh… I don't know, it was such a hard thing to write, because reasons…**

**Anyways, I really need you to do a favour for me and GO VOTE ON THE POLL ON MY PAGE. 'TIS REALLY SUPERDUPER IMPORTANT! The fate of this story hangs in the balance. Not really but you get the point.**

**Anyways…**

_**Vani Parfait: Oh my dear, your reviews make me giggle uncontrollably. Heehee! Thank you a thousand times, dear! **_

_**Readingisdabest: Sorry I'm such a laggy updater**_

_**Anju Makaa: What is this ….updating regularly… you speak of? :P**_

_**SilvermistAnimeLover: OMYGOSH YOU FLATTER ME SO, MY DEAR! Thank you! Ha-ha. No, I've decided just then that her present gigai doesn't have any wings, therefore she isn't in it very much, but with Urahara anything is possible…**_

_**Nyllac: TA-DA! **_

_**Taien: Haha, thank you, dear **_

_**Little Madam Russia: THANK YOU FOR THE COOKIE! *le nom nom* I'm still trying to decide what to do with Max and her possible hollow, because the more I think of it the more I like it, but I don't want her being too Mary-Sue ish :\ YES, she will be meeting the Vizards, hopefully before the whole Orihime kidnapping incident**_

_**Ghost of Razgriz: Awh, thank you, dear!**_

_**Killroy225: hmm, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Fang and the rest of the flock, I've only got a vague idea of what I will be doing with Iggy, but feel free to send me any ideas you have! And thank you, dear ^-^**_

**GO VOTE!**

**-Shinigami**


	17. IggyRuki and ICHIGO!

**I know what you're thinking! 'Whoa! Shinigami updated in under 6 weeks! She's on a roll!' Yeah, I'm on holidays and procrastinating from doing my assignments…**

**Stay in school, kids!**

* * *

"Where have you been?" I flinched, looking towards Karin as I slipped off my shoes. "You've been gone all day!"

"I went to see Max," I replied.

I turned as two sets of feet barrelled towards us. "You saw her?!" Gazzy yelled. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. She's staying with her and Rukia's friends," I reassured them, patting Angel's head when she hugged my waist.

"Well, you're in time for dinner, come on," Karin said, leading us through the house.

We took our seats as Yuzu came into the room. "Will Rukia-chan be here in time to join us for dinner?" She asked hopefully.

"No idea," I sighed. I still had no idea what that girl was up to. Sure, she was a shinigami like Max, but there was something different about her than my dead sister. I just couldn't put my finger on what it was that was so different about her.

We were only a few minutes into the meal –which was pretty great- when the front door opened, who I guessed was Rukia began walking in. Yuzu jumped up at the sound. "Rukia-chan! You're in time for dinner!"

"Really? That's good. Thank you for preparing it, Yuzu," Rukia replied. She padded over and took a seat opposite me.

"I haven't seen you since you ran into that girl, Ori-something," I muttered, listening for her reaction as the others began eating again.

"Her name is Orihime," Rukia said. I could practically _feel_ a suspicious stare on me from the small girl. "She needed someone to talk to, that's all. When did _you_ get back?"

"Just now. I was with Max and her…friends."

Rukia didn't reply, so I continued eating. That girl really was something else. I just wasn't sure what that meant, or why I cared. Stupid shinigami.

* * *

)A few days later(

I don't know what I expected when Urahara said that he would help me train. I obviously didn't think it would be anything easy, from what I remembered of what Ichigo told me, but a two-on-one training session wasn't what I had in mind.

"Come on, Max!"

I landed on my feet for once; an improvement on my part. But Renji's attacks didn't leave me any time to celebrate the small success. He launched his shikai at me, making me jump away, shunpoing between boulders. Chad was waiting for me at the opening between boulders I had selected. He drew his arm back, I reeled. Renji was fast approaching, so I couldn't run back the way I came, and my sides were blocked by the boulders. I grunted, flying straight at Chad. I used his broad shoulder as a step, jumping into the air. I laughed, unfurling my wings, beating them strongly-

"Gah! Damn it!" I yelled, my wing seizing up as I fell back towards the ground. Chad ran forward, catching me before I could go splat.

"You okay?" He asked, setting me down.

I leant against a large rock, trying to inspect my wing. "Yeah. I guess my wing isn't quite healed yet, damn it," I muttered, frowning.

"I told you to stop trying to use your wings!" Urahara yelled from his place next to Yoruichi. "They'll never heal properly if you open your stitches!"

"Yeah, yeah!" I called back.

"Ready to go again?" Renji asked, his zanpakutō resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah…" I nodded, adjusting my own katana.

"Get as much fighting done as you can today," Yoruichi called. "Tomorrow, we'll start focusing on talking to your zanpakutō!"

* * *

Rukia had come to visit a few times, never for very long, though. Something was up, though. So when my wing had finally healed completely, I asked her what I wanted to since I woke up.

"Rukia, do you know where Ichigo is?" I asked, shovelling the last of my lunch into my mouth.

She looked up from her bento, surprised. "I…well, yes, I do," She said, nodding.

"Can I see him?"

Rukia stared at me for a few minutes, before sighing. "You're going to try and track him down if I don't take you, right?" I shrugged, she shook her head and smiled. "Alright, fine. We can go now, if you want."

I jumped up, nodding. She waited for me to slip into my gigai, explaining to Urahara why we were stepping out.

"Don't be too long, we have a lot to teach you!" Urahara said. I was surprised that he wasn't being a doofus about it; in fact, he looked quite serious about me returning quickly. That couldn't be good.

"Alright, we'll be back soon," I promised, following Rukia outside. I groaned, rolling my shoulders around. I didn't like my gigai, it always made me feel weird not having wings. We wandered through the town, not really passing any conversation between us until Rukia decided on a topic.

"Max," She started, glancing at me. "Your brother, Iggy, he isn't normal, is he?"

I snorted. "That's an understatement. But how do you mean?"

"Well… every time we're in the same room, I feel like he's watching me. Even when I'm out of my gigai. I know he is fairly spiritually aware, but I never feel so tense around others like him."

I shrugged. "Don't worry too much about it. He gets suspicious easily. And as for him watching you, well he's blind, so he's probably just keeping tabs on where you are and stuff. Although… you two act like you knew each other before you took him to visit me…" I trailed off, leaving it as a question.

She looked at her small feet, nodding. "I think he recognized me from when I killed the hollow that attacked him and the other two."

I groaned. "Well, no wonder he's watching you."

She sighed, before looking up. "We're here. I'll be back soon to escort you back to Urahara's," She said, waving.

I blinked. "You mean you're not coming with me?"

She shook her head, and I sighed. I turned back to the warehouse, scowling. Why was he in such a dump? Probably to stay away from the rest of the humans, but still! Why not get a better hideout than some place that's falling apart.

I guessed that if he was training with someone in the middle of the city, that they had some precautions set up for intruders, so I circled the warehouse until I found a broken window near the top. I started to do a run up, then stopped, groaning. Right, no wings.

I grabbed a gikongan from my pocket, swallowing it. I popped out, and turned to my hyper-looking gigai. "Stay here, and don't get into any trouble," I warned. She nodded, saluting me. I rolled my eyes and unfurled my wings, taking a run up and flying up to the window. It was big, big enough to send a grown man through if you get him up high enough. I kicked out the pieces of glass sticking out dangerously, and perched myself on the frame.

There was nobody in sight, but I could feel several reiatsu somewhere beneath me. "Underground..?" I guessed.

It was my best bet, so I flew down the broken levels of the warehouse, until I found a set of steps. I landed, crouching at the mouth of the steps. The reiatsu was getting stronger. I sighed, standing up. If Ichigo was down there, which I could feel he was, than it couldn't be too dangerous, I'm just paranoid. Ha, that's something new.

I descended the stairs, gripping the hilt of my zanpakutō as the sounds of metal clashing reached my ears. I was greeted by the sight of Ichigo being beaten in a match by... well, by a girl that looked about Gazzy's age with a large sword.

"Ichigo?" I asked. He glanced up, staring at me.

"YOU IDIOT! DON'T GET DISTRACTED!" The girl bellowed, kicking him in the stomach. He went flying into the dusty ground. I glanced around, my surroundings were quite similar to under Urahara's shop. Were they modelled the same?

I realized that nobody was talking, but everyone was staring at me rather… well, rather hatefully.

"Max!?" Ichigo yelled, sitting up in the dust. I walked over to him, lending him a hand up. He stumbled to his feet, and then grabbed me.

"Wha-!? Ichigo, put me down!" I yelled. He spun me around, laughing. He eventually put me down on my feet again.

"You're okay!" He cheered, making me grin a little.

"Well, it takes more than some twerp in too much white material to kill me," I replied, smirking at him.

"Well, well, well!" A voice bellowed. We turned, staring at a new arrival. I blinked, staring at the man as he walked over to us. "If it isn't the winged girl again!" He said happily.

I stared at him. "Y-You?!"

It was the guy that saved my life!

* * *

**Yeah, so everyone that wanted Max to meet Shinji and the others. Get ready! And if you were confused by the last part of this chapter, don't worry! It will be explained! Or you can put the puzzle pieces together by re-reading Chapter 14. **

**What do you think? Yeah, there was a tad of Iggy/Rukia there, eh? Do you guys like that pairing? If not, you should probably tell me right now.**

**Reviews!**

_**Readingisdabest: Wow… violent and crazy…. I better update sooner, then! Y'know, to keep the death rate from going up or anything… haha thank you for the review!**_

_**Uniquemangalover: no, you're awesomeness!**_

_**Killroy225: ooOOOHhhh that's a really good idea! Thank you, love!**_

_**Chifuyuu: BOOM! UPDATED! Hee-hee!**_

_**Verdigurl: Yay! Didja like the anime?**_

**Later, gators!**

**-Shinigami**


	18. Vizards

**Hello! Long time, no write. Merry Whatever Doesn't Offend You!**

* * *

Have you ever been in a situation where it feels like the tense atmosphere is thick enough to crush you? Yeah, standing in that underground training area filled with weirdos that I didn't know, Ichigo – who was busy trying to figure out what was going on- and a guy that saved my life, that was tense.

We all sort of stared at each other for a minute. The blonde guy was grinning widely at me, Ichigo blinking and looking between us, and the little blonde girl growing more irritated by the second.

"Max, you know Shinji?" Ichigo guessed. Ah, yes, he was very perceptive.

"You could say that," 'Shinji' said, walking closer to us. "It's very nice to meet you again, Max-_chan_, what brings you here?" He asked, throwing his arm over my shoulders casually.

"Ichigo," I replied shortly, shrugging his arm away. "Ichigo brings me here."

The girl from before stormed over. "Well, isn't that just _adorable_! Sorry, shinigami, but we have work to do! So if you don't mind-!"

"Hiyori, relax! She just got here," Shinji yelled, cutting her off.

"How did you get here? I thought you said the force fields were up!" Hiyori screamed, glaring at a huge guy with pink hair, before turning back to stare at me.

My eye twitched. "I don't know what you're talking about; there was no force field when I came here! Stop screaming at me, kid!"

"Eh…" We both turned as Shinji spoke up, scratching his head and leaning on Ichigo casually. "All the barriers were up when I got 'ere. Maybe she got through them somehow, Orihime-chan."

I turned to the two idiots fully. "Orihime was here? When?"

"A few days ago. Hachi restored her little…bug…thing… And then she left a while later."

The giant pink-haired man stepped closer to us. "But that doesn't make sense. Inoue-san was able to slip through the barrier as a result of having abilities similar to my own. As far as I can see, Max-san is a regular shinigami. I can't think of a reasonable explanation as to why she could get in…"

"Well, you better strengthen the barrier! We don't need Ichigo's girlfriend wandering in whenever she feels like it!" Hiyori screamed at the man.

It seemed that Ichigo's air supply was cut off at the same time as mine. We both started spluttering and shaking our heads simultaneously. "Hey! I am _not_ his girlfriend!" I protested.

"Dammit, Snaggletooth!" Ichigo yelled. Hiyori's eye twitched slightly at the nickname, and suddenly she launched herself at the red head, kicking him in the stomach and sending him flying into a boulder.

I blinked, surprised. This kid had a temper. "Anyway, what is this place?" I asked, walking over to help Ichigo out of the dust.

"You came here without even knowing who we are?" Hiyori asked, staring at me like I was a mad woman. Well, to be honest, it wasn't my smartest move, but still.

"I wanted to see Ichigo," I stated.

The redhead in question grabbed my wrist, towing me away from the group. They stared after us, but let him drag me out of hearing distance. "How are you feeling? Last time I saw you, you were a mess," he commented.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "That's probably because the last time you saw me was almost a month ago, Ichigo."

He looked down at his feet. "Sorry…"

"You skipped out before I could…thank you," I scowled, looking away. I don't like owing people for saving me. I'm Maximum Ride, damn it, I should be able to handle myself.

But I guess Flyboys and Erasers aren't on the same scale of power as Arrancars, either. Ichigo touched my arm, making me look back at him. "At you're safe now. I'm getting stronger, the arrancar won't get to you next time."

I shook him off. "You're not the only one getting stronger, Ichigo! We're all training, I won't need you to come and save me again, you know."

"You're…training? Who's training you?!"

"Urahara and Yoruichi, of course. But what about you? Why are you training with these guys? Who are they?" I asked, nodding over to the odd group. They weren't paying much attention to us, mostly just bantering between themselves. Hiyori was screaming at a guy with huge, weirdly styled black hair and glasses. The only one still looking at us was Shinji.

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably. "They're Vizards, like me."

I turned, raising an eyebrow at him. "Am I supposed to know what those are?"

"It's, uh, kind of hard to explain, right now."

"I have time."

He groaned, rubbing his neck and leaning against a nearby boulder. "We sort of have hollow powers."

"Hollow powers? How does that work? Shinigami don't have hollow powers, Ichigo. I know you're weird, but not that weird."

Ichigo sighed loudly. "Well, I—Wait! I'm not that weird!" He protested.

Smirking, I folded my arms. "Right, and I'm the tooth fairy. So, how are you a hollow wannabe?"

"I have this… Inner hollow. I've had it since I got my shinigami powers back a while ago. The only way that I've been able to control him is by training with these guys. If I can control him, than I can use him to get stronger."

I nodded. It was sort of starting to make sense. "You don't eat plus souls do you?" I asked worriedly.

He began to reply when Shinji exploded with laughter, rolling around on a rock closer to us than the others. He sat up, wiping the corners of his eyes. "You, Max-chan, are a funny one. No, we don't eat pluses. Mostly we have take-out."

We both rolled our eyes at the same time, watching as the smirking blonde jumped down and walked over to us. The idiot lounged against me again, smirking as Ichigo glared at him. "How do you know Max, anyway? I still don't get that."

"I saved dear Max-chan's life a month ago, while you were battling Grimmjow. She was in a bit of a pickle that I so charitably helped her out of."

"Go to hell."

"Anything for a pretty thing like you," Shinji retorted sarcastically. Ichigo glared at the man, and I rolled my eyes, pushing my elbow into his stomach. He doubled over, groaning. Ichigo grinned at me proudly as I stepped closer to him, away from Shinji. "You sure do pack a punch, though…" he commented.

I rolled my eyes. "Just because you killed the arrancar, doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you."

"How did you get here, anyways?" Ichigo asked, cutting off whatever Shinji had opened his mouth to say to me.

"Well… Rukia dropped me off. She'll be back soon to _escort_ me back to Urahara's," I grumbled, frowning. What was with all of this weird watching over me, anyways?

Ichigo smirked down at me. Damn, that kid is tall. "Not liking the special treatment?" He asked.

"I'm not a _princess_, Ichigo. I don't need bodyguards."

The redhead shrugged. "I guess you'll have to deal with it. A shinigami with wings and memories isn't an everyday thing."

"HEY, BALDY! ARE YOU AND YOUR GIRLFRIEND DONE TALKING YET?! WE NEED TO GET BACK TO WORK SOMETIME TODAY!" Hiyori screamed, waving her zanpakutō at us.

We both groaned in protest at her words. "I've got to get back to the she-devil…" He mumbled, frowning.

"It's fine. I'll just, um, show myself out," I said, grinning at him. I turned, starting towards the exit.

"Hey, Max!" I paused, turning back to Ichigo with a raised eyebrow. "I'm… glad to see you're okay! Don't get into trouble, alright?"

I smirked. "Please, trouble is my middle name. Don't worry; I don't plan on dying again anytime soon. See you around."

Shinji waved at me lazily as I passed him, so did the other Vizards. I climbed out of the basement training grounds and unfurled my wings, flying up to the window I had come in through. I jumped down to the ground and located my gigai chewing on its sleeve. I made a face, hopping back into the body.

* * *

Rukia emerged from basically nowhere a while later. We walked back to Urahara's in silence, Rukia stole some glances at me occasionally. "Did you get the answers you hoped for?" She finally asked.

"I guess so…" I muttered unsurely.

She let the subject drop at that, and we turned the corner, walking the rest of the way rather quickly. Rukia pushed me out of my gigai as soon as we were inside, and pulled herself out after me.

Orihime was downstairs for some reason when we landed on the dust. She glanced up, and ran over to us. She was still in her school uniform, so she must have come straight away. "Max-chan! Rukia-chan!"

"Orihime? Why are you here?" I asked.

"O-Oh, didn't we tell you?" She replied, a little flustered. I made a face. I hadn't seen her for a few days, but she had a determined look in her eyes, which was new. It was a different look than the lost one I had always seen her carry.

"I'm taking Orihime to the Soul Society to train with her one-on-one," Rukia explained.

"How long will you be gone for?" I inquired.

She shrugged. "As long as we can stay, or until Orihime and I feel we've improved enough to return, I guess. We'll most likely be back in our squad, so you know where to find us if you need us, right Max?"

I nodded. "Yeah sure."

"The Senkaimon is ready!" Urahara's boisterous voice called. Rukia and Orihime exchanged looks, before they each hugged me tight.

"We'll see you soon," Rukia said, running over to the portal. "Bye!"

Orihime quickly bowed, before waving and running after the shorter girl. I sighed, rubbing my head. I really needed to lie down…

* * *

**Sorry for such the wait, I have had a massive case of writer's block. In order for that to NOT happen, I really need you guys to send me suggestions for Max's zanpakutō shikai/spirit/element. I will be most likely posting her shikai in the next chapter, if you want it to be good, get cracking with those suggestions and votes!**

**On a side note; what do you guys think of chibi-Max as the story cover? I drew her trying to pick up Ichigo's sealed zanpakutō... Yeah... Heh..**

**REVIEWERS, OH I LOVE THEM.**

_**Verdigurl: Yeah! I have converted another to the Shinji fangirls *evil laugh* WELCOME TO HELL! Just kidding, he will be in it a bit until the whole Hueco Mundo thing. GAH THE SHINJI FEELS! Thank you for the review, darling! *brofist***_

_**Leiharr: D'aww, thank you, dear!**_

_**Killroy225: Thanks! I didn't really want them to be alone, I'm glad ti's working so far (I hope…)**_

_**Readingisdabest: WHOOOHOOOOOO!**_

_**Uniquemangalover: Oh, really? I'm trying to make sure they don't get too mushy yet, feel free to tell me if they do. Thanks, love!**_

_**Islandgirl15: Gaaah, you're an awesome reviewer, dear! Glad to see that IggyRuki seems to be working so far. **_

_**Myra the Sark: Cool! I hope I'm not spoiling Bleach for you, if you aren't up to this part of it, yet…**_

_**VampriesExplodeInLight (cool name!) : Oh no! Is it okay that I'm ahead of that? I hope I don't spoil too much, dear!**_

_**WingedHero540: Yeeeah, buddy! Sorry there isn't any pervert-whacking action right now, but there will be!**_

_**Chaos-Guard: …yeah….about that updating as soon as possible…. HAHA, thank you, love!**_

_**Kisa tracer:Oh, is it? I'll be trying to put more detail into the next few chapters to elongate it, thanks for pointing that out, love!**_

**Ja Ne!**

**-Shinigami**


	19. Fang, Smokey, and Espada!

**Hola!**

* * *

I jumped back, swooping away from the flying debris. I readied my zanpakutō before swinging it and I flew down towards the red head, Renji's blade and my own clashed, small sparks flying on impact. He pushed me away, the zanpakutō extended as I retreated. It continued to follow me backwards, so instead I kicked my legs out, stepping on the blade and pushing it towards the ground and setting off in a different direction.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, trying to find a way to end this already. It had gone on too far without any clear sign of who had the upper hand in this fight. I tucked in my wings, dropping to the ground. I shunpoed through the craters we had made, Renji was hot on my tail. He shouted taunts as he began to close the distance between us. He raised his blade, beginning to swing it down when I dropped down and to the right. He went flying past me, unprepared for my sudden halt. I jumped forward and swung at him. My zanpakutō sliced across his chest, ripping his clothes and grazing the skin. He stumbled, and I smacked the hilt of my katana into his shoulder, the impact made him drop his zanpakutō and fall to the ground.

I smirked, standing over the tattooed man. "I win," I spoke after a while, still panting. He grinned up at me.

"That you do. About time, too," he replied. I rolled my eyes and offered him my hand. He took it and I pulled him to his feet.

Yoruichi appeared in front of us as we made our way towards the hot springs. "Three hours, twelve minutes," she declared. I raised my eyebrow. We had fought for that long? "Your stamina is tremendous in your sealed stage. Once you unlock your shikai, you'll have to make sure that you can still battle for the same amount of time. But I don't think you'll have too much trouble with that."

"Right," I nodded.

She glanced at Renji, smirking. "She really got you this time, eh?" She teased, Renji rolled his eyes and hobbled over to the furthest hot spring of the two we had discovered so far. Yoruichi left me to hop into the other spring, telling me she'd bring our meals down for us.

We had basically been living in the underground training area for the past two weeks. Renji, Chad and I taking turns in battles while the others rested or meditated. Yoruichi tested my shunpo every few days to make sure I didn't rely on just my wings to get around quickly.

I slid slowly into the steaming water, sighing as I felt my muscles relax and the small cuts and bruises I'd received from my training session begin to heal. Rukia and Orihime had left only two weeks beforehand, and we had done nothing but training since. Or days were long and our breaks were rarely spent actually relaxing. How could we, really?

* * *

Fang scowled at the girl sitting in front of him. It had taken him months to track her down, and now she seemed a little too comfortable with her surroundings. She grinned back at him, dangling her legs off the side of the armchair. "What's wrong now?" She teased.

"…Nothing," he replied, turning away from her, concentrating on cooking breakfast properly. He had taken up many roles in the new flock, including leader and chef.

She moaned slightly at his moody attitude. Sure, it was slightly understandable, seeing as he had lost most of his family, temporarily or otherwise. But it had been months, and he had to continue to move on from his past and focus on the future. She voiced her thoughts to him, to which he simply shrugged his shoulders, pushing pieces of bacon around in the pan in front of him.

"Fang! Is breakfast almost done?" Nudge called sleepily, stumbling in. Her hair was a mess and her blanket was wrapped around her shoulders as she shivered.

"Yeah, go wake the others and I'll dish it up," he replied, patting her head as the younger girl hugged his side. It had taken time, but Fang and Nudge had become very close. Nudge would occasionally sneak into Fang's room during the middle of the night just to cuddle her brother. They had clung to each other desperately when they first separated from the rest of the flock, and as a result their bond was practically unbreakable.

Nudge nodded, padding off to wake the rest of the group.

"Why don't you like me hug you like that?"

Fang turned back to the girl as she approached him, grinning cheekily. He rolled his eyes. "You hug me whether I give you permission or not," he pointed out.

"That is true," she replied, snagging a piece of bacon and popping it in her mouth, leaning against Fang.

"Of course it is," he replied, looking down as she rested her chin on his shoulder. He gave her a small, awkward grin in return, which made her own smile grow.

"Aw, aren't you a cutie?" She teased.

"Shut up, Ma-.. Maya," he caught himself, before finishing in a huff. She ignored the slip up, helping him set up the dining table quietly. He knew it hurt her when he slipped up and called her Max, but she still understood. It was hard not calling her Max, but what did she expect? She may be her own person, but she was born as a clone.

* * *

"Come on, ten more," I encouraged around a mouthful of food. Chad grunted, pushing himself up and clapping his hands before putting them back on the ground. I continued to eat my lunch, watching carefully for signs that I should get off Chad's back. He had been doing push-ups for the past half an hour.

Chad finished the last ten strongly, holding his position as I climbed off his back. "Good job," I said, giving him a thumbs-up as I stacked my dishes, leaving them next to Renji's pile for Jinta to collect.

"Hey, Max!" I glanced up, staring up at Ikkaku as he hung from the opening in the ceiling. "Yoruichi says you can come with us for your Jinzen session. Come on!" he shouted.

I groaned. Sitting still wasn't my favourite way to train, but it was necessary. "Alright, coming!" I yelled back, starting towards the ladder. Renji and Chad begun their next training battle as I left.

Once I was out of the training area and slipped into my gigai, Ikkaku and Yumichika towed me out of the shop, promising Yoruichi that I would be back as soon as training was over. I scowled. What was with the whole not letting me out all the time? Was I under shinigami-witness protection?

"Max-chan! I haven't seen you for _ages_!" Rangiku cheered, running up to hug me.

"Rangiku, you visited me three days ago," I replied, rolling my eyes.

She blinked, and then grinned at me. "Oh right, of course! Come on, Taichou has missed you!" She grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the last of the group, already perched on a large rock.

Hitsugaya looked up at our arrival, but closed his eyes moments later, turning his head away from me. "It's been a while. Hurry up and everyone sit down; I don't like chit-chat while I'm trying to preform Jinzen!" He said grumpily.

The others all grabbed the rocks surrounding us that were suitable for sitting on, Hitsugaya called my name when he noticed I hadn't moved from my spot. "Here," he beckoned me over, moving across to make room for me on the rock. I sat down, placing my zanpakutō on my folded legs.

_So… hello? Helloooooo~? Hey, Smokey, you there? Anybody home?_

"_**Why must you call me Smokey, Max?"**_

_Pfft, because you appeared to me as a bunch of smoke the first time I saw you, obviously. So…how is things? _I awkwardly looked around as I was pulled into my inner world.

"_**If what you're asking is if you are ready to know my real name, than don't fret. You are very close, Max."**_

I huffed, watching the dark hooded figure appear in front of me. _"Well than what do I have to do to get closer?"_

"_**Just continue as you are. Your training is helping tremendously with building up different aspects of your skills. Trust Urahara and Yoruichi, they will bring you up to the level you need in no time."**_

"_Well—"_

"GAH! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! BREAK, BREAK, BREAK! TAKE THIS, AND THIS, I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"

I opened my eyes, scowling as Yumichika's screaming pulled me out of my inner world. He was bashing his zanpakutō against his rock angrily.

Rangiku jumped up from her spot, throwing a rock at his head. "Shut up! What is wrong with you anyway, Yumichika?!"

I rolled my eyes as he started screeching again. God, he was a drama queen. At least nobody else was around to listen to his insane rambling. They took turns complaining about their zanpakutō before Yumichika was assaulted again by Rangiku for something he had said about her.

Hitsugaya's face was pretty funny, watching as it progressed from calm to completely pissed off at the two. Finally, he burst out at them, "Will you two just shut the hell up and concentrate?! Or I'll send you back to the Soul Society!"

He turned back around, scowling as he continued his ranting to me. "Honestly. Can't they at least talk to their swords more quietly?"

I grinned at his upset expression, turning my head to check on Ikkaku. He was still meditating peacefully, as if nobody had spoken at all. I realized for the first time that he was shirtless for some unknown reason. But was caught my attention was the long scar running down his shoulder and torso. "Hey, Hitsugaya… How did Ikkaku get that scar?" I asked him quietly.

He opened his teal eyes, staring at me for a second before glancing over to the man in question. "He got it from his first battle with Kurosaki," he replied.

"Wait, he fought Ichigo?"

He rolled his eyes. "It was during the Soul Society break in. We told you about that, right?" I nodded in confirmation. "Well, Kurosaki's first battle in the Seireitei was against Madarame. You can see who lost, but Kurosaki ended up patching him up."

I grunted. "Strange thing to do for someone who tried to kill you…"

Hitsugaya nodded, shrugging and closing his eyes again. "Kurosaki is a strange person."

After a minute of silence, there was a grumble of words from Ikkaku. We both looked over to him. "What did you say?" I asked.

"Never mind, it's nothing…" he replied.

I followed his gaze up towards the sky, then my eyes widened in surprise. A part of the sky… ripped open? I jumped up, holding onto the rock as I was hit by a wave of strong reiatsu. "What the hell?" I whispered.

"Arrancars already? They're a little early, aren't they?!" Yumichika asked.

"Yes, they're definitely early… But there's no time for us to sit around and figure out why," Hitsugaya replied.

I clenched my jaw as the Arrancars all looked down, staring at us. I placed my gikongan in my mouth, jumping out of my gigai and perching myself on a larger rock. "Run back to Urahara's!" I ordered it.

One of the Arrancars jumped out of the space, through the air. He paused for a moment, staring at us. I narrowed my eyes, my raptor vision locked on and I realized he was staring straight at me. Before I could think of anything else, he had shot off again, away from us.

"Max!" Hitsugaya shouted. I looked back at the other shinigami, seeing their gigais running off after my own. "Stay with the others!"

My eyes widened, watching as a huge arrancar came flying down towards us. Hitsugaya jumped up, clashing against him. I jumped up, standing next to Yumichika.

"That means you're an Espada!" I turned my head at Hitsugaya's statement.

I gripped my zanpakutō hilt tightly. "Does that mean you're an Espada too?" I asked, turning to look at a lean, smirking arrancar that was staring at us.

"That's right. My name is Luppi, I'm ranked number six," he replied, revealing a tattoo of the number to us.

* * *

"Gah! Let go of me!" Ichigo yelled, struggling against the other Vizards.

"No, you're not ready yet!" Kensei yelled back.

Love chimed in. "This is exactly why your friends from the Soul Society are stationed here in the World of the Living. Why don't you just let them handle it?"

"Well this just happened to be exactly what I've been training for, damn it! What about Max? She can't fight against Espada! Look, this is now or never for me!"

Kensei paused his struggle against the teen when Shinji grabbed his shirt. "Just let him go."

The two released him immediately; Ichigo sprinted away from the pair. He exited the warehouse and shunpoed into the air. He travelled as quickly as he could in the direction of Max's reiatsu, before stopping mid-air when a certain blue haired arrancar appeared in front of him.

"Hey! I've been looking for you, shinigami!" Grimmjow growled.

"Yeah? And I've been waiting for you! It's taken some time, but now I'm ready to show you what I've learnt since the last time we've met! Bankai!"

Grimmjow watched the boy intently before speaking up. "Bankai, huh? So that's what I could sense. The reiatsu of you in bankai was coating that girl. The shinigami with the brown hair... It almost completely masked her own reiatsu signature. So what? Maybe you've forgotten, but your bankai couldn't stop me or even do anything to slow me down the first time we met!"

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly for a moment. _My reiatsu… is coating Max's? _He scowled. _I can't think about that right now. I have to focus on Grimmjow…_

* * *

**Heh. That thing about me revealing Max's zanpakutō this chapter… I guess it was a lie… I'm sorry! I couldn't decide straight away and I thought it would be better to leave it until the next chapter. SORRY!**

**Anyways, thank you to everyone who has put forward suggestions. Unfortunately, she can only have one shikai so I'll have to decide. But feel free to send me any suggestions for her bankai if you get any ideas, they're always appreciated.**

_**Lovely reviewers are lovely:**_

_**Little Madam Russia: Cool! I am planning to probably give Max a hollow, but not right away, I want it to be a gradual thing that may be more believable than just 'BOOM I HAZ A HOLLOW', if that makes sense.**_

_**Killroy225: Ask and you shall receive!**_

_**Kisa tracer: Ohh, that sound cool! Thank you for the review and suggestion, love!**_

_**Chaos-Guard: Is not what you were expecting a good thing…or a bad thing..?**_

_**Verdigurl: Hay gurl hayyy! Didn't expect another update within the month did ya? Hehe :D**_

_**WingedHero540: I love you. And your ideas. Enough said. Hehe, I plan on putting off the hollow for a little while longer, but yes, it may be soon that signs of it start showing.**_

_**RandomAsRainbows: Thank you! Just a bit, aha (:**_

_**Uniquemangalover: YOU DID?! :D Ooooh that sounds cool as well! So many good choices! Thank you as always, dear :)**_

_**Animeartist523: That sounds like a pretty cool suggestion. Thank you, darl!**_

**As always, reviews are awesome. Stay groovy!**

**-Shinigami**


	20. Kidnapped!

**Yo.**

* * *

_**(Iggy's POV)**_

My head snapped up. "Max…" I whispered. The air around me felt dense, I could practically feel her presence around me. Was this what she was talking about when she talked about reiatsu?

I pulled myself up; my bare feet touched the cold ground of the clinic. I couldn't feel any vibrations of footsteps, or hear anyone. The Kurosaki twins had taken Angel and Gazzy to school with them each day during the week, so they wouldn't be back for a few hours. I guessed that Isshin had gone to make a house call on one of his patients.

"I'll just go figure out what's going on, I'll be back in no time," I whispered, almost to make sure that I knew what I was even doing, leaving the house.

I slipped on the shoes that were waiting for me under the bed and cautiously made my way outside. Max's pressure was almost completely overshadowed by others, much more intense than hers. That worried me. If she was one of the weakest links… then she could be in danger. I frowned, trying to locate her.

She didn't seem to be too far from the clinic. I set out in her direction, my pace fast but cautious.

"My, my…."

I froze, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Who was that? When did they get behind me? Why didn't I hear them before?

I turned my head, straining my senses to find where they were.

"Who…?" I whispered.

"…Am I? Oh, that's easy." I spun around again, confused. From what I could tell, it was a man, maybe a bit older than me. He spoke calmly, "My name is Asher, Asher Giordano. I'm here to take you to Hueco Mundo."

* * *

_**(Max's POV)**_

Alright, so, long story short.

I was in over my head. Again.

But this time, I wasn't the only one. It seemed like Yumichika wasn't completely ready to face an Espada either.

We both skidded back from Luppi, having been deflected by the arrancar. "You just don't get it," he called, almost sighing at us. I helped Yumichika to his feet, he had taken most of the force, so I was kept on my feet.

"Shut the hell up!" Yumichika growled.

Luppi turned to Ikkaku, seeming to try and get him to join the fight. I took the opportunity to lunge forward, swinging my blade.

He turned, smirking at me. "Now, now," he smiled, I gasped as he caught me, practically snatching me out of the air like it was nothing. I kicked my legs as he pulled me up by my neck. "Yammy! Let me have that kid you're fighting, too."

"What?!" The huge guy bellowed, looking confused. Hm, all muscle and no brains.

"It's so tedious fighting them this way! I'd rather take all five of them on at once. I'll simply take my power and put an end to all of your boring lives!"

I broke free of his hand, dropping down to try and kick his legs out. He stepped out of the way just in time, before sending me flying again. "Max!" Someone called. I came to my senses, catching myself before I could crash into anything, or fall out of the air.

Hitsugaya flew past me, a pair of ice wings sprouting from his back, as well as a tail. "Bankai! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

"Strangle…Trepadora!"

The Espada's release caused an explosion, making it hard to see. A few moments later, Hitsugaya came flying out of the smoke, blocking a long pink tentacle with his wings.

I shunpoed over to Rangiku as Luppi chuckled. "That was nicely done! I honestly thought you wouldn't be able to block that attack. I have to admit, I'm a little surprised. I guess you taichou _are_ pretty tough, huh? I'll have to watch my step. But just think; that attack, the one you were able to block just now…" We all watched cautiously as the smoke cleared. "Would you be able to stop it if it were eight times stronger?"

"That's… kind of gross," I muttered, staring at the eight tentacles coming from Luppi's back. Like, wings are weird enough for me.

Of course, my moment of distraction was cut off when the tentacles shot at Hitsugaya, attacking him from almost every angle. Some of the ice shattered, falling from his body as he was sent flying.

"Taichou!" Rangiku cried.

"I told you, four against one would have been much better odds," Luppi said, turning to us. "Oh, I'm sorry! I meant four against _eight_."

I launched forward, swinging at the closest tentacle. The others followed suit. Things weren't going to plan, though. Soon, Luppi had gained the upper hand, we were struggling to hold up against the tentacles.

"Man, you guys are too pathetic for words! Are you sure you are really shinigami? How lame! Really."

"You bastard!" Ikkaku cursed, jumping forward again. The other two followed suit as I attacked from another side. We battled for a while until one of the tentacles wrapped around Rangiku tightly, restricting her movements. "Rangiku!"

"Hold on!"

We watched each other as the tentacles grabbed us. I grunted, struggling as the tentacle coiled around me tightened with every breath I took.

"I don't know if anyone has ever told you this before, but you've got a smokin' body," he commented, pulling Rangiku closer.

Okay, ew.

"Yes, indeed. You have _definitely_ got it going on."

Double ew.

A free tentacle rose up, spikes grew from the end of it as it closed towards Rangiku. "I wonder how you'd look if I punched you full of holes…"

"Hey, leave her alone!" I yelled.

"Damn it, stop!" Yumichika demanded.

The spikes drew closer and closer to Rangiku, almost ready to drive through her chest, when my vision of her was cut off by a blast of red light.

"Well, it looks like I made it just in time! That was certainly close, wasn't it?" A voice called. We all turned our heads, surprised to find Urahara approaching from the ground.

"Who are you? Why are you interrupting?" Luppi demanded, a hint of annoyance in his voice. As Urahara came closer, I bit my lip, trying to wriggle free.

_Alright, _I thought to myself as Urahara's attention was taken by Yammy and the small blonde arrancar, _How are we going to get out of this?_

_**"Well, you could always use me."**_

My eyes widened as Luppi taunted Rangiku. _H-Huh? You mean..? _I asked uncertainly as I felt myself being pulled into my inner world.

_**"Yes, Max. I mean it."**_

* * *

_**(Iggy's POV)**_

"Let me out!" I yelled, running at the plain door. I had been doing it repeatedly since I had been shoved inside what seemed like what a prison cell would be, with better conditions. But a good thing for me was that almost the entire room was white, so I could see outlines of where I was going.

I slammed my shoulder into the door again, trying to break through to the other side. With a grunt, I pushed off, taking a few steps back before charging again.

"Why won't you let me—WAHH!" I yelped, falling through the space I expected the door to have been. There were two sighs from above my head, before I was yanked to my feet. "Alright, what's your deal?" I asked, slightly disorientated and embarrassed about falling on my face.

"We don't have any deal, kid!" An unfamiliar female voice said.

"Now, now, Apacci, that's no way to treat a guest," teased the second voice. It was the same guy from before… Asher, I think. He chuckled as the woman growled something at him. "What she meant to say is, we aren't holding you here because we feel like it, it was Aizen-sama's wish that you would be detained in Las Noches."

I blinked a few times. What the _hell_ was going on? "Thanks for that explanation, everything makes so much more sense now," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"Listen, don't get snarky, kid! We could pull your head off in a second!" Apacci threatened.

Scary lady is scary.

"You just said that some Aizen guy wanted me, I don't think he'd be too happy about you killing me before he even got to talk to me," I pointed out.

Apacci growled again, I could hear her teeth grinding against each other. I opened my mouth to go on but Asher's large hand fell onto my shoulder, making me stop. "You may have a point, but it's best if you don't try to make a fool out of my comrade," he said softly in my ear. His hand tightened on my shoulder, making me struggle. Damn, was this guy's skin made of rock or something? I grunted, and he released me.

"We will bring you meals and other necessities to you. When Aizen-sama requests your audience, we will escort you to him."

"Why am I here?" I asked.

There was a pause, then a small hand made contact with my cheek. I went flying backwards, my back hitting the far wall. I groaned, sliding down into a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Enjoy your stay," Apacci laughed. I heard the door close and their retreating footsteps.

"Damn it," I whispered, spitting out what tasted like blood as it filled my mouth slowly. "Where's Max when you need her?"

* * *

**(Max's POV)**

"_**Trust me about this, don't push yourself with me for the first time. I know how you are, but you better take my word this time, alright?"**_

I nodded slowly, concentrating as I was pulled out of my inner world.

_Let's go._

"Spin…Tatsumaki."

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Sometimes, when I write cliffhangers, I feel like Satan. :)**

**First, credit to WingedHero540 for creating the first arrancar OC to appear in the fic, Asher Giordano. Yaaay!**

**Credit also to fayfan for being behind the inspiration of Max's shikai. **

**NOTE:: TATSUMAKI means tornado. That means it's a wind-type zanpakutō…**

**Thank you everyone for contributing suggestions, I love you all.**

**To the review corner!**

_**SoulreaperRukia1: Hmmmm….**_

_**Readingisdabest: AWWWWH SHEEEIITT. Haha**_

_**Vani Parfait: You are so adorable. OH MY GOD, I SWEAR I DIDN'T MEAN THE REIATSU COATING TO SOUND SEXUAL OR ROMANTIC IN ANY WAY! IT HAS A THEORY BEHIND IT I SWEAR. …I can't remember if she's met Yachiru or not, and I'm too lazy to check… oh well… thank you, lovely!**_

_**Blueties15: :O plot twist to the extreme! I might write an alternate fic where that happens, actually, but right now I don't want her to seem like too much of a Mary Sue that everyone has feelings for. BUT THANK YOU FOR THE PLOT BUNNY, DARLING!**_

_**Chaos-Guard: I'm sorry, hopefully this will revive you for a while!**_

_**Guest (Nice name;): I don't mean it to seem like they are totally okay with everything, but thanks for pointing it out that it seems that way. I'll have to delve more into that in future chapters, I've mostly just been focusing on other things in the story right now. I'm glad you like the idea of Max and Ichi, though, dear!**_

_**Moonlight Pheonix: Successful? Awesome? Staying in character? …WHEEEEEE! Haha, thank you very very much, darling!**_

_**Kisa tracer: thank you! I hope I don't disappoint anyone with the zanpakutō **_

_**WingedHero540: She will probably tell them rather soon, hopefully after she figures some things out for herself. Thank you for letting me use your arrancar, darling! I hope in the short time that he was in the chapter, he was as in character as you hoped! Tell me if there's anything that you would like changed(:**_

_**Verdigurl: Naww I got a hug! I feel all warm and fuzzy now! :3**_

_**Myra the Sark: Really?**_

_**Urufushinigami: ehehehehehe, you wouldn't be a mind reader by any chance, would you? Well then, from shinigami to wolf shinigami, thank you for the review, dear!**_

**Peace out!**

**-Shinigami**


	21. Missing

**Hey. How's it going? I haz an update. Are you all proud of me?**

* * *

"Spin…Tatsumaki."

I pulled my zanpakutō up, it cut through the tentacle restraining me like a hot knife through butter. Pieces of the pink flesh fell through the air, dropping to the ground below me. My wings, finally free from my shihakushō, beat freely, clearing the small amount of smoke that had appeared.

"M-Max..." Rangiku gasped.

"Hm, what's this?" Luppi scoffed, turning his attention to me. "So you're a little bird? Cute, but what can you do against me?"

I narrowed my eyes, grinding my teeth. "I can do this," I replied. I shot forward, weaving between the tentacles, slicing at them. Two dropped to the ground in small pieces. Luppi screamed, I ducked down, escaping the swiping limbs.

"So what, you were holding back before?!" He shouted at me.

"Not exactly," I replied, breathing heavily as I readied my zanpakutō. My eyes trailed over it with surprise. _You've changed…_

"_**What did you expect?" **_Tatsumaki replied with a chuckle. I examined the elongated blade, a stray leaf from the trees below us had been caught up in the small wind circling along the blade, spinning around it quickly.

"Well then, don't get cocky. Just because you broke free, doesn't mean your friends are safe. By the time you can rescue one of them," he laughed, the remaining tentacles began to move around. "I'll skewer the other two!"

"You leave them alone!" I yelled.

His cackle cut short, though, when ice suddenly formed on the ends of the tentacles, creeping up. "W-What is this?!"

"Hitsugaya…" I whispered, grinning. I quickly flew to the others, cutting them free before circling over towards the captain.

"It's a huge mistake to let your guard down against _any_ of your opponents. Be ready minded, you see, always alert."

"You…have to be dead…"

"Hyōrinmaru's power is without limit. Hyōrinmaru will always reform, as long as there is water around. It can be reborn a countless number of times. You have no chance of winning now, I've had too much time to prepare. You made a critical mistake in your strategy. The fact of the matter is you're resources are limited. Finite. _Your_ weapon is eight arms; _my_ weapon is all the water in the atmosphere. Sennen Hyōrō…"

I watched quietly from next to Hitsugaya as the ice encased Luppi, my energy draining out of me. "It's over..?" I asked, looking for confirmation from the captain.

"Yes…"

I sighed, staring out at the town. Explosions were going off where buildings were being destroyed. Ichigo's reiatsu was dwindling, making me become very edgy. He was with Rukia and even Shinji, so he was protected for the moment. I glanced over to Urahara, who had the huge guy on his knees. What was that guy's secret?

"What the..?"

I turned back, confused at Hitsugaya's sudden exclamation. The ice had started to crumble, falling away from Luppi. "How unfortunate, taichou," he said. "You weren't able to kill me, you see? Be sure not to forget my face. When we meet again, I'll twist of that tiny head of yours and crush it!"

"You little-!"

"Max!" Hitsugaya snapped, grabbing my wrist when I moved to follow the arrancar. "You can't get to them now."

I scowled, glaring as they disappeared from sight. "Taichou! Max-chan!" Rangiku called, the three appearing in front of us. "Thank you!"

"It's not like we defeated them. Things are going to get harder from here on."

"Ugh, what an ugly ending…" Yumichika complained.

I glanced down at my zanpakutō, it quickly reverted back into its sealed form. _**"You did well, Max…"**_

_Thanks._

And then I collapsed, falling through the air towards the ground.

* * *

Karin sighed, stretching her arms out as she lead the group of four children into the house. Angel and Gazzy ran past her, giggling with excitement. They had been chattering all the way home about telling their brother about their first experience of school in Japan.

"What would you like for dinner tonight, Karin-chan?" Yuzu asked, placing her bag down on the kitchen table.

"Whatever you want, 'Zu. I'm not that hungry…" Karin replied. She had lost her appetite halfway through the day, when she felt more of those monsters appearing. It had put her on edge; she could almost still feel something wrong in the air.

The dark haired girl jogged upstairs, changing clothes quickly before coming back down. She glanced around, searching for the two excited younger children. Turning a corner, she nearly walked straight into the two she was looking for. "Hey, what's wrong? Didn't Iggy feel up to listening?" She asked uncertainly.

The two blinked their large blue eyes, looking between each other. Angel nodded her head, before focusing back on Karin and speaking up.

"Iggy's gone."

* * *

"THAT HURTS!"

I sighed, trying to roll myself over. Who the hell was yelling?

"AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME? BACK OFF!"

An irritated groan left my lips, my eyes slowly opening. The screaming continued, with added voices. "Who the hell is making all that noise?" I asked, my voice coming out hoarse.

"Madarame and Ayasegawa," someone replied from above me. I sat up, holding my aching middle with an arm. I finally identified the man-child that hovered above me as Hitsugaya. "They always get so manic wherever they go," he commented.

"…I can hear them, but I can't see them…"

"They're down in the training grounds. They're much more vocal than before, which is why you can hear them. I was asked to watch over you until you woke up. Be careful, releasing shikai for the first time is very draining."

I pursed my lips, grasping around for something to use to help myself up. Hitsugaya watched me for a moment, before bending down and grabbing me under the arms, helping me to my feet. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not too long. A few hours at the most," he replied.

"What happened with Ichigo and the others? How did their battle go?"

"Kurosaki was injured badly, but he is recovering. He is resting back in his home, Rukia will be expecting you soon," Hitsugaya sighed, turning to call over Rangiku. My eyebrows pulled together. I thought that he would have escaped fine, seeing as he had Rukia and Shinji with him.

My mind slowly replayed the battle, the arrancars faces seemed etched into my mind, like a lot of things had done over the years. That huge guy seemed pretty powerful, but stupid, the blonde guy didn't seem to have anything going on upstairs, and Luppi seemed more like a drama queen, not an Espada. But what about that blue haired man, the one that spotted me at the beginning.

Just the thought of him made a shiver run down my spine. He was the one fighting Ichigo, the one that must have injured him so badly…

"Where's my gigai?" I asked.

"Over there," He replied, waving to the corner of the room.

I padded over, slowly slipping into the body. After sitting up and adjusting to the gigai, I went to the door. "I'm going to the Kurosaki place," I informed the two as I passed them.

"Be safe~!" Rangiku called, waving.

I sighed, stuffing my hands into my jacket pockets as I walked. It was dark outside, but apparently not late enough for everyone in the Kurosaki household to be asleep. When I rounded the corner, I could see a few lights still on. Approaching the front door, I checked the sounds inside the house. Karin and Yuzu were talking, and I could hear some heavy movement from Isshin, I presumed.

My fist tapped against the door twice, and within a few seconds it was being opened. I smiled down at Yuzu as she stared back at me with a huge smile. "Max-chan! You're okay!"

"Of course I am," I replied. I gasped with surprised when she jumped forward, squeezing me in a hug. "H-Huh? Yuzu, are you okay?"

"Rukia told me that you were in the fight with Ichigo and those bullies, I was worried that you'd be hurt like he was," she explained.

Oh, so that's what Rukia must have told them…

"Well, I'm fine now. Is Rukia here?" I asked.

"Yeah! We're going up to Ichigo's room now, you should come," She said, grabbing my hand. She towed me inside, stopping at the kitchen to grab a few plates before marching upstairs, meeting Karin at the top.

"Yuzu, we're supposed to let him rest," Karin complained.

"But Karin, what if he wakes up? We should be there! He should see someone that he knows, right?"

Karin sighed. "Maybe…"

Suddenly the door opened, revealing a startled Rukia. "Hey…" I muttered.

"Um, Rukia… would it be okay if we ate our dinner in here?" Yuzu asked nervously.

A small smile spread over the shinigami's face. "Of course, I don't see why not. I think Ichigo would like that," She replied.

"Rukia… aren't you hungry as well? It's dinner time! I made a special dish just for you!"

"But… I was just on my way out…" Rukia protested. "I'm not very hungry just now—" Her stomach then decided to make itself known, which caused a chain reaction for mine to start growling as well.

"Hm, is that your tummy talking?" Karin asked.

"Your tummy knows more than you do! You are hungry!"

"Well, I guess I will have some, Yuzu! Since you went to the trouble of making it…"

Yuzu's face lit up. "Yay! Thanks Rukia! Come on, Karin, let's bring the trays in!"

"Sure, I'll go get one for Max as well."

The two rushed off. I turned to Rukia. "How is he?"

She sobered up for a moment, looking at the ground. "He's resting. The people he had been training with couldn't help heal him."

"How long do you think he will take to heal?" I asked, following her into the dimly lit room. I stepped over to the bed, staring down at Ichigo. A shadow of his usual scowl was still on his face, but he looked a lot less troubled than usual.

"We're not sure," She replied with a sigh. "Max, there's something else you should know."

I turned back to Rukia, an eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"

"When I got here… Angel told me that Iggy is missing."

My eyes widened, a lump rising in my throat. No way was this good. "What?" I asked in a strangled voice.

* * *

_**Yeah… **_

**Reviewers!**

**Uniquemangalover: you're amazing**

**Shimmerbreeze: Yes, you're very right, Tatsumaki will most likely be very sarcastic. I'm very sorry for the confusion, Iggy was kidnapped! I fixed that up **

**Fayfan: yes, it was! I used the basic idea, but your suggestions are always so awesome like asdfghjkl. Aha, thank you as always, darling!**

**Taien: I apologize, but suspense and annoying cliffhangers are my middle name (I have a very long middle name)**

**Chaos-Guard: Yes, it was Iggy, sorry for confusing you! Thank you for the review!**

**Verdigurl: awhh, that's so cute! I love to think that my updates make you feel better, I'll try to do them more often for you!**

**Pirony: I hadn't thought about that, but now that you have mentioned it I might put that in, that would be really interesting!**

**Antex-The Ledendary Zoroark: Thank you for the support!**

**Urufushinigami: kukuku! Well then, young one, I am very thankful for your reviews of sugar-rush and randomness, they are very entertaining! Nuu! Asher is a fan-character made by the lovely fayfan! **

**MaKayla McKinzie: PPPPPSSSHHHHHTTT! I updated! :o**

**Guest: Asher is very awesome, but he may not have eraser abilities (I can't remember right now what his zanpakutō is .) ! Humans are able to travel to Hueco Mundo while they are alive, it's just that Orihime and Iggy were the first to do it.**

_**Adios!**_

_**-Shinigami**_


	22. Sent Back and Byakuya Has A Heart?

_**Hello poppets!**_

* * *

For a moment, I was frozen in place, before I rushed out of the room, hurrying downstairs. "Max, wait!" Rukia called after me.

"Angel? Gaz?" I called, opening and closing doors furiously. Iggy was missing, and I was dead, they couldn't stay at the Kurosaki household any longer. "Guys, it's me!" I yelled.

The pair was huddled in the corner of the clinic; my shouting seemed to have pulled them out of their light sleep. "Max!" They shouted together, jumping up and running over to me. I accepted their hug, kissing their heads. It had been months since I had seen them, and I could only imagine what it was like for them to not know where anyone they know is. "Max, Iggy's missing," Angel cried into my shirt.

"I know, that's why you need to leave," I replied.

"What? But-!"

I cut Gazzy's protests off. "I don't want you guys alone by yourselves. It's not safe. Go back to Jeb, see if he knows where Fang and Nudge went. You'll be safe staying with them."

Angel stared at me, her eyes wide as she talked. "Max, what are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna get Iggy back. I promise." I hugged the two close, biting the inside of my cheek. "I promise I'll get him back."

* * *

After the kids were safe in the small apartment that Jeb was staying in, I found myself wandering around Karakura. Iggy's reiatsu was nowhere to be found, it stopped outside the Kurosaki household and wasn't anywhere else in town.

I collapsed outside an abandoned park in the early hours of the morning, Iggy was long gone. My chest heaved with my broken breaths. I felt like sobbing, because for once I had no idea where Iggy was, and it was obvious that he had probably been taken by something that wasn't an Eraser or something that I could easily defeat. My mind replayed my battles with Arrancars, how I couldn't defeat them by myself. I was a shinigami and I had no chance against them alone; how would Iggy be able to survive against something like that?

"The probability that your brother is dead," a voice said suddenly. Instinctively, I turned, throwing my fist in the direction of the newcomer. Hitsugaya caught my fist with ease, not batting an eye at the force against his hand. "Is rather low. If the arrancars are responsible for his disappearance –and that is most likely- than it's because they want him for some reason. They won't kill him just yet."

I clenched my jaw, pulling away from him. "What do they want from him? He hasn't done anything."

"My best guess is because he is affiliated with you," he replied, shrugging. "you are a strange case, of course. Aizen might want to learn more about you, and to do that he will go through your family."

"Great, so once again I'm the reason my family has to deal with this," I breathed. "Wonderful."

We sat in silence for a while. Hitsugaya sat beside me awkwardly, as if he wasn't sure what to do. "Come with me," he said finally, rising from his seat.

"Where?"

"Inoue Orihime's house. That's why I came in the first place. It seems," he turned back to me, "that Iggy wasn't the only one taken."

His statement only served to confuse me, but I followed anyway. We walked through the almost completely deserted streets, climbing up to the windowsill of Ichigo's room to bring him with us. I pushed the window open, in time to watch him unravel the bandage from his hand. There wasn't a single mark on his hand.

"It's healed… Who did this?" He muttered.

"It was probably Inoue Orihime," Hitsugaya replied, pushing back the curtains. "Come immediately, Kurosaki."

"T- Tōshirō? And Max?" He said, staring at us. He jumped to his feet, rushing to the window. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Just hurry up," I replied. He nodded, grabbing his badge and pressing it to his chest. The three of us hurried to Orihime's house.

By the time we had stepped into the living room, everyone else had gathered there. "Sorry to keep you waiting," Hitsugaya apologized. The others stared at us as we entered. Rukia glanced between Ichigo's face and my own with sadness, before looking away.

"What's going on?" Ichigo questioned. "Why is everybody standing here in Orihime's room? And where is she, anyway?"

Nobody answered his question. Hitsugaya moved to talk to Rangiku. Ichigo and I moved further into the room, I folded my arms as he turned to stare at me. "What?" I asked, he shook his head, turning away. The large screen mounted on the wall made a strange noise, then Ukitake appeared on it.

"…Ukitake? I was looking for the Sotaichou," The white haired shinigami said, posing it as a question to his comrade.

"I had him switched to me."

"And your reason..?"

"Because I was the last person to see her before she went through the Senkaimon to return to the world of the living," a collective gasp ran through the room, my captain's features darkened. "Judging by your reactions, she hasn't arrived safely as I had hoped," he sighed.

"What's the meaning of this, Jūshirō? Where exactly did she disappear to? Do you know anything?" Ichigo pressed, moving forward.

"I'll give you my assessment. The two guards I had sent with her through the Senkaimon came back alive; according to them, it's likely that Inoue Orihime had either been abducted or killed by the arrancars."

Rukia jumped forward. "Ukitake-taichou! I believe you're jumping to conclusions!"

"I understand, I don't want to believe it, either. I'm simply stating the worst possible outcome there is. It is more likely Inoue-san was attacked by an arrancar and then disappeared with him."

"Are you kidding me?! Is that really all you have? Orihime has disappeared! You say she might be dead, and that there's no proof. But take a look at this!" He raised his hand. "I was seriously injured in yesterday's battle, no-one here could heal my wounds! But when I woke up this morning it was completely healed, and not only that! There was still some of Orihime's reiatsu on my wrist! Are you still going to stand there and tell me she might be dead?"

Ukitake turned slightly, and a voice from the other end began to speak. "I see. That is most unfortunate."

"Unfortunate? What do you mean by that?"

"If what you say is true," the Sotaichou began. "Then it would be safe to assume that Inoue Orihime is indeed alive, but at the same time, it also means that this is an act of betrayal. If she had been abducted, she wouldn't have had the time to visit you while you slept. In other words, the fact that she healed your wounds before disappearing can only mean one thing. That Inoue Orihime had actually volunteered to go along with the arrancar or her own free will."

I clenched my fist. "That makes no sense! Why would she betray us?!" I shouted. Hitsugaya grabbed at my arm, but I shrugged him off. "My brother Iggy was taken yesterday as well, are you saying he betrayed me and left the others by themselves!"

"Silence! If he is missing, then I will assume that this Iggy is a traitor as well."

Ichigo and I lunged forward in unison, shouting protests at the old man. "Stop!" We paused, being held back by different hands. "You'll just end up worsening your position if you say anything else," said Renji. "Sir, I understand what you're saying, Yamamoto-Sotaichou; therefore, as a member of the advanced troops, and because I am fukataichou for Squad Six, I will head to Hueco Mundo and bring the traitors back to their senses."

"Renji…" Ichigo whispered. The man turned his head to us, grinning a little.

"You must not!" Yamamoto boomed. "With this new information, we must now assume the arrancars are ready for battle. All members of Hitsugaya-taichou's troops are to return immediately and defend the Soul Society! That includes you, Ride Maximum!"

"Are you saying we have to abandon Iggy and Orihime?!" I accused.

"Exactly! We cannot risk the safety of the entire world, just to go chasing after two simple humans."

Rukia stepped forward. "Unfortunately, with all due respect, Sotaichou, I cannot follow that order."

"I'm not leaving Iggy to the arrancars!" I yelled.

"…Unfortunate indeed. I thought that this might happen, so I'm glad I prepared for it."

We turned, surprised as the doors of the Senkaimon opened behind us. Two large figures stepped into the room. "Kuchiki-taichou…" Renji whispered.

"All right, I want you all to head on back," Kenpachi said, his deep voice practically bouncing off the walls. I tried to hide myself using Ichigo, in an attempt to stay out of their reach and be left behind, he grabbed my wrist, trying to cover me from sight completely.

"Don't fight us. We have been ordered to take you back by force if necessary," Byakuya of the luscious hair spoke up.

"Alright then. In that case, I won't ask the Soul Society to help me bring Orihime and Iggy back. However, the least you can do is to tell me how to get into Hueco Mundo. After all, Orihime is still my friend, and Iggy is important to Max, he's her brother. So I'll just go and save them myself."

My hand squeezed his own, the other clutching the back of his shihakushō. "Ichigo…"

"You must not! We are going to need your help in this battle, Kurosaki Ichigo. I won't allow you to plot your own course of action and die for nothing. Stand by until you receive orders. That is all for now." The screen went black.

"Alright, let's go," Kenpachi sighed, turning away. I didn't move from my spot against Ichigo's chest, hiding from them. But it wasn't working, because a moment later he re-appeared in front of us.

"Let go of me!" I protested, kicking and trying to reach for Tatsumaki as he hauled me away from Ichigo and onto his shoulder. "Ichigo!" I called, struggling against the huge shinigami. "I'll be back, I promise!" I shouted. He turned his head a little towards me just as the doors to the Senkaimon closed.

"You should stop struggling," Kenpachi muttered, setting me down once the doors were shut solidly. "You won't be back for a long time."

My head dropped, my eyes staring at the ground. "You're wrong," I whispered, slowly following the crowd of shinigami.

* * *

_(Iggy POV)_

My head snapped up. The door was being opened.

"What do you want?" I called, rising to my feet. I wasn't acknowledged.

Three sets of feet entered the room. "You are to stay here until Aizen-sama wishes to speak with you," a voice said. My brow furrowed.

"Yes…" A familiar voice replied. I scanned through my memories, placing the soft voice to that girl Rukia had run into, just before I found Max at Urahara's place.

"Orihime?" I asked.

There was a gasp from the girl. I stepped in her direction, but the next second a familiar presence was between us. I jumped backward; the wind from a fist flew past my face.

"We will leave you now; please do not try to escape."

The arrancar in front of me, as well as the other across the room, disappeared, the door shutting behind them. I walked over to Orihime slowly, cautiously waiting for some sort of sign that she wasn't completely catatonic.

"Hey, you're Rukia and Max's friend, aren't you? What're you doing here?" I asked. She sniffed, and a moment later fell against my chest and let out a small sob. I froze, unsure of what to do exactly. "Um…"

She didn't say anything else, she just cried.

_Oh jeez, I'm not suited for this_, I thought to myself.

* * *

**(Max POV)**

"Hey, Max!" I turned my head, quirking an eyebrow. Rukia came bowling down the walkway towards me, grinning from ear to ear.

"What is it, I've got to get this paperwork to dumb and dumber to fill out," I sighed. The two third seats of our squad were probably going to start fighting on who got the larger part of the stack.

She took the stack from me, placing it on the ground. "Come with me, hurry!"

I followed her through the Seireitei until we arrived at the Kuchiki family compound. "Um, Rukia, what are we doing here?" I asked, looking around. I spotted a familiar head of spiky blood red hair along with a head of black hair, making my confusion deepen. What was Renji doing at the Kuchiki compound with Byakuya?

"What is this?" I demanded as we approached them.

"Calm down, Max," Rukia said softly. I turned my eyes to Byakuya, who motioned his hand to a small table, where three packages sat. I looked between Rukia and Renji, who both wore matching looks of confusion. Hesitantly, we all opened a package each. "Cloaks?"

"Hueco Mundo has rough terrain. Protection is necessary," Byakuya stated.

"We were told that we weren't to go to Hueco Mundo," I replied. "You were sent to bring us back to the Soul Society, or is your memory deteriorating in your old age?"

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at me, but didn't reply straight away. A moment later, the doors to a Senkaimon appeared. The doors had the Kuchiki clan seal on the front. He turned away from us, sighing. "The only order I received was to bring you back to the Soul Society. I never received any order on what to do with you once you got back. Do whatever you like."

Rukia bowed profusely at her brother. "Thank you, Nii-sama!"

I watched him for a moment, before letting a small grin escape. "Yeah, thanks."

Rukia and Renji turned to attention as the doors slid open. I followed behind them, passing Byakuya. "Max, do not let any harm come to Rukia while you are in Hueco Mundo," He murmured, only loud enough for my hawk-like hearing to pick up as I passed, before the doors of the Senkaimon closed.

_Hm, so the Ice Queen Byakuya has a soft side after all. I guess that's what family is for… _I thought to myself, following the others as we broke into a run. _I'm coming to help, Ichigo._

* * *

**_Guess who's back, back, back! Back again, gain gain!_**

**_Reviews!_**

**blueties15: omfg staph you're giving me so many plot bunnies to think about! Waaahhh now I'm questioning who I want the third person to be in the triangle! Ah. But thank you very much for thinking my writing is clever, who paid you to say that? aha **

**Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Oh-ho-ho! You will have to read and find out, won't you? Aha, thank you for reviewing, darl!**

**Chaos-Guard: You think so? Thank you! I wasn't too sure if I was going in the right direction with Tatsumaki**

**Verdigurl: Naaaaaaaaaawwww Verdi-chann! *hugs* You are so lovely to mee**

**uniquemangalover: I LOVE YOUR USE OF CAPSLOCK, thank you dear!**

**Myra the Sark: Oh YES, Iggy! Mwahaha! **

**urufushinigami: Oh my lord you are so right. I try not to hate on Orihime but there is only so much you can hear 'Kurosaki-kun' before you start biting your laptop with anger. Thank youuuuu for reviewing! Why yes, I am a Shiro fangirl! Unite!**

**Guest: Oooowoooopwopwop you actually guessed part of the story! Yes, they will be sharing a cell! You should write your own MaxRide/Bleach story! Aha, thank you for suggestions! I am considering how to have Max and Grimmjow meet and/or maybe battle, FLY ON!**

**Taien: Oh why thank you!:P**

**123val: Maybe, maybe not(:**

**WINGEDHERO540: Why yes ma'am! Thank you for letting me know now which direction to take with Asher. Otherwise he might have turned out completely different in future chapters... If you have any suggestions on how to get Asher to show more of his sympathetic side message me!**

**AMMO121: YES IGGY! Aha, well I think after Iggy moves past any protective brother issues he may or may not have with Ichigo *hint* in future chapters *hint*, I think I may let them be friends!**

**Kaira'smyyami: Bwahahah! Call me a BBC writer because I'm here to be evil and maybe give a shit tonne of feels once I've gotten people attached to the story!**

**Laters!**

**-Shinigami**


	23. what is your relationship with itsugo?

yoooooooooo

* * *

We went from Urahara's to the Garganta, soon enough we were entering Hueco Mundo. "Odd," Renji muttered. "I would have thought that they would have some sort of intruder greeting party to nab us as we entered."

"Maybe Ichigo and the others took them out on their way through…" Rukia suggested. I glanced around my surroundings. We were standing in a large expanse of a night fallen dessert, the odd dead tree spotted the wasteland. "Though I'm sure they're going to get into another battle soon, so we should probably move."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Max, you want to fly ahead, see if you can find them?" Renji suggested.

I nodded, happy for an excuse to stretch my wings. "Sure thing," I replied, unfurling my wings. With a running start, I leapt into the air, beating my wings until they lifted me up far above the others, my vision extending further. "Hm, there's no real sign of… what the?" My eyes widened. "What the hell is that?!"

"What do you see?!" Renji yelled up at me.

I dived down. "I saw Ichigo and this huge hollow…thing! It was regenerating right after an attack." The two glanced at each other, before breaking into a shunpo.

We arrived to a large sand pit holding our friends and a huge hollow trying to eat them. Which is, you know, kind of not the thing you want to see. Rukia drew her zanpakutō, releasing her shikai as I landed next to Renji. She made short work of encasing the hollow in ice.

The group below us turned their attention to us, surprise written over their faces.

"Rukia! Renji! Max!" Ichigo called.

* * *

**Iggy POV**

I sighed heavily, rubbing my face as I was pulled from my dreams by noises at the door. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, the mattress I was on moving with me as Orihime woke up slowly as well. "…What's going on?" She asked slowly, yawning.

A moment later, the door slammed open against the wall. Three pairs of footsteps entered, coming towards the bed. I grabbed at Orihime, pushing her behind me as much as possible. She shuddered for a moment, and even with the small chill in the room from our captors, I couldn't help the twitch of a grin that came to my face when her boobs pressed against my shoulders.

Heh, girl's pretty developed for a sixteen year old.

"Aizen-sama wants to speak with you," Asher's voice spoke up. My grin fell.

"Come on then," I whispered, lifting myself up and turning to help my fellow prisoner up.

"Not the girl, just you," A softer voice said. I pursed my lips; his voice did nothing to help me try and think that she would be okay with him without me- not that I could do very much to protect her against these guys. "And don't try to escape, Aizen-sama has informed us all to break your wings if you are seen to be resisting."

With that depressing thought in my mind, I dropped my arm and turned to follow Asher's heavy footsteps out of the room, Apacci's lighter stomps following behind me. The door slammed shut and I followed along with begrudging obedience.

After a few minutes of silent walking, the pair led me into a considerably colder room, where our footsteps echoed enough for me to estimate the size of the room to be almost 40 yards long.

"Iggy, how nice to finally meet you in the flesh," A new voice rattled into my ears. Asher and Apacci retreated quickly from the room, leaving me with the man that made every part of me feel three times heavier than before. "I am Aizen."

"What do you want with me? With Orihime?" I called.

"Oh, Inoue-san is a different case entirely from you. As for what I want with you, well, quite a bit. But for our meeting right now," His voice grew as he began to walk towards me. "I would like you to tell me about your sister, _Max_."

* * *

**(MAX POV)**

We jumped down; Ichigo began jogging over to us with a large grin on his face. Rukia stepped forward, taking the first shot. She landed a clean punch to his chin, and then turned back. Renji stepped up next, high fiving Rukia on his way, and smacked Ichigo's left cheek. Renji stepped back, and I took his spot, whacking the red head on his right cheek.

"You _idiot_!" Rukia and I yelled in unison. "Why did you go off on your own to Hueco Mundo? Why couldn't you have just waited for us to come back a help you?!" Rukia shouted.

"Because I had no idea if you were actually gonna come back and help me," Ichigo said slowly.

"Of course we were coming back, you dumbass! No matter what!" I replied, pushing his shoulders angrily.

Rukia sighed, kneeling next to me. "We were planning on coming back from the very beginning. Why didn't you wait for us? Why couldn't you trust us? As if Max wouldn't come to help her brother! As if we wouldn't come to help Orihime! I thought we were supposed to be your friends, Ichigo."

"…Yeah, you're right," he resigned, bowing his head.

Rukia grinned at me, getting back to her feet. "Don't make me confirm something as silly as this ever again." I sighed, trudging over to offer Ichigo a hand. He smiled softly, accepting my help to his feet. "That aside, who are _they_?"

We all turned our attention back to the group of weird looking…things that had been standing together. "WHAT KINDA RUDE QUESTION IS _THAT_?" Yelled the small one, they then jumped up, yelling their names and posing like idiots, then turning against each other when their title messed up.

"Well, you get the idea, they're hollows," Ichigo sighed.

"Hollows?" I blinked, turning back to look at the group of circus freaks – heh, for once it's not _me_ being the freak- now staring at a large hollow that looked like he was… crying? "They don't look like any hollows I've ever seen. Why are you with them?"

"I….really don't know," Ichigo muttered, shrugging. "Are you ready to get going now? Come on," He directed the question towards Renji and Rukia.

"Alright, Ichigo," Rukia agreed.

We grouped together with Chad and Uryū, and began walking towards Las Noches. Ichigo looked over to me, a small grin spreading on his face. "What?" I asked. He shook his head, laughing softly. "It's just good to see you again, Max," he said, beaming. His arm came up, falling onto my shoulders and pulling me closer.

We only got a few yards before Nel's voice was calling. "Hey! Hold up a sec! Itsugo!"

"Hey! It's not Itsugo!" Ichigo shouted back, turning around.

"If you'll wait for us, Nel will guide you to Las Noches!" She declared.

And that's how I found myself on top of a giant hollow...worm…thing. I had been hesitant, offering to just fly, but Ichigo said that it would be best to save as much energy as I can for Las Noches, and dragged me to sit next to him on Bawa-Bawa.

The ride may have been a bit more peaceful if I didn't have Nel glaring at me from the other side of Ichigo. "Why are you staring at me like that?" I finally asked, growing annoyed at her frowning.

"May I ask you what your _relationship_ is with Itsugo?" She fired back.

Renji burst out laughing, I sunk into myself as much as possible. "You're one weird kid," I replied.

"You're pretty popular with the ladies!" Renji shouted.

"Just shut up," Ichigo groaned. "By the way, where did you guys get those cloaks? Pick them up from somewhere."

Rukia turned slightly, holding her collar. "…They're gifts. I was told that Hueco Mundo's deserts have pretty rough terrain and you have to have protection."

"Who said that?"

"My brother did…" she said, her cheeks going red.

At this little gem of information, the three without cloaks burst out with unbelieving screams. "D-Does that mean Byakuya sent you guys all the way here to _find_ me?!" Ichigo squeaked.

Renji rolled his eyes. "Well actually, it was Kisuke who opened up the Garganta for us, but it was my taichou who got us to the World of the Living."

"He said that the only order he received was the one to bring us back to the Soul Society," I explained, then tried to put on my best Byakuya impression to continue with, "_I never received any order on what to do with you once you got back. Do whatever you like_."

"Byakuya did that, huh, he sure has gotten rather soft lately," Ichigo muttered.

"You don't know the half of it," I replied in agreement.

"He also said that it must be unpleasant for the enemy to have that dingy boy wandering around," Rukia added.

Ichigo froze, and then turned to punch the surface under him. "That bastard!"

However, he seemed to have forgotten that what he was sitting on was a living –sort of- hollow that was carrying out asses to Las Noches.

"Ichigo, what are you doing punching our ride?!" Uryū yelled from the back.

"That's right! Don't pick on Bawa-Bawa!" Nel added. "If you wanna pick on someone, please pick on Nel!"

"That's kind of creepy, kid!"

"Gah! _Enough_!"

* * *

_**I am so so so so so so so so sorry for such a long wait. I have been up to my eyeballs in drama and schoolwork and normal work and the footy and I'm really sorry I will try to get better at this updating shizz.**_

_**Anyway, on to the reviews!**_

**Verdigurl: AHAHAHAH I am going to have SO MUCH FUN with Nel! Ahahaha! Owaaah I got a hug, yay!**

**urufushinigami: Ha! Math homework is the worst, but I have a fun tutor that sort of just talks crap the entire time so I guess it's okay. YOSH! Shiro-kun fans unite! ... I don't know what broiler chicken show is but I hope you get all of your homework done and don't fail anything! I believe in you, you smart cookie!**

**uniquemangalover: aww you're too kind!**

**Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: heh... about that update soon... ehhe...**

**Guest: Ohohoho, I never said that a fight with Grimmjow would end with Max winning :P Thank you for the suggestion, lovely! Oh, don't worry, everyone gets stuck at points in the story, it's fine! I believe in you!**

**Anju Makaa: Heh, Iggy has quite a bit coming for him(:**

**AMMO121: Oh I WISH I was good enough to write a Iggy-centered fic, but lord it's hard to write like a blind guy, it's so hard. I respect anyone that can do it! Ah, I love Iggy so much! Thank you for the review!**

**Guest #2: ...**

**WingedHero540: Don't worry, that won't be happening any time soon, I hope... Anyway! Yeah, Max and Nel will be getting closer, but as for right now its just awkward and funny little snaps between them because Nel is so protective about her ITSUGO! heh, as always, thank you for the review and letting me use your fabulous character!**

**Later Later!  
-shinigami**


	24. bewbs

**HOWDY HO**

**GUESS WHO SANTA HELD AT GUN POINT UNTIL THE CHAPTER WAS FINISHED?**

* * *

**IGGY POV**

This sucked.

Two hours- or was it three?- of standing while trying to find some sort of understanding about what this creeper wants with Max, all for nothing. All that happened was Aizen turning everything around so that _he_ ended up the one with more information than what he started with.

Son of a bitch, that guy was shifty.

"Come on," Asher sighed, taking my arm to help direct me. My head was pounding and my legs felt like jello. _Note to self, avoid spending time alone with Aizen. Actually, avoid spending time with Aizen at all._

We arrived at the room to that creeper from before speaking to Orihime. "Tell me, who does your body and spirit belong to now? I want to hear you say it out loud."

"They… They belong to Aizen-sama, and are for his purpose and use," She replied in a hollow, dead tone.

I stood in the doorway, leaning against Asher. He was pretty tall compared to the others in the room, only a few inches shorter than me. He adjusted himself, moving out of the way as the junior creeper stepped out of the room.

"Orihime, what was that about?" I demanded, rushing forward, though nearly tripping over myself twice. "Since when do you _belong_ to that _weirdo_?"

"I-Iggy! Are you okay?!" She gasped, a moment later falling into my arms.

…Hehe.

"I sure am now," I muttered, grinning.

She sighed, hugging my tightly. My smirk widened, and she slowly pulled away, moving to sit on the sofa near us. Asher stepped up next to me, I turned in his direction and chuckled. "…Why are you smiling like that?" He asked quietly.

"_Boobs_," I whispered.

* * *

**MAX POV**

"Did we make it through?"

I snorted. "Sure hope so, you just busted down the wall." Renji nodded in agreement, peering into the new hole Ichigo had created in the Las Noches foundation.

"Hey! What're you doing?!" Nel shouted. We turned to look at her curiously. "The entrance to the palace is just a three day walk that way!"

"Nel, we aren't visiting a friend, and we have no time to a three day walk anyway," I explained.

"Nel, thank you for bringing us this far, but I'm afraid this is where it has to end," Ichigo told her softly. "If you involve yourselves with us anymore, you'll be seen as traitors. So this is goodbye."

Nel gaped at us. I frowned slightly, her large blinking eyes reminded me of Angel. I bent down to pat her head softly before turning to run alongside Ichigo into Las Noches. "See you!" Ichigo called.

"Ichigo!" Nel's voice followed after us. Ichigo stopped his running; we shot past him, stopping a few metres further. "From the moment that Runuganga saw us together are fate was sealed because we were labelled as traitors! No, maybe even before then! Aizen-sama may have already known and if that's the case he will never forgive us for helping you! And even if he does the Espada would definitely never forgive us! Nel is not saying that Nel wants you to take us with you, Nel is just telling you this so that you don't worry about us! The last thing Nel wants is for you to worry about Nel and her friends! And Nel is also _not_ saying that Nel wants you to take us with you!"

Renji turned to us. "So, when she says _don't_ worry…"

"She really means, please worry," Chad ended.

"The last thing Nel wants is for Ichigo to worry about her poor little body being crushed by Aizen-sama and the Espada! Nel will be perfectly fine without Ichigo looking after her!"

Ichigo sighed, relenting to her. "Fine, just be quite already, okay?!" He paused, blinking as her cries began to become distant. "What the hell?"

"Her voice is getting fainter and fainter. It sounds like she fell underground or something…"

"What do you mean, fell underground?! How could that happen?" He exclaimed, turning to run towards where we had come from. "Nel!"

"Ichigo, wait up!" I yelled, running after him.

We ran for a little bit before those two hollows appeared out of nowhere, Ichigo crashed into the two, and I fell on top of Ichigo in a heap. "That hurts!" He complained. I sat up, rubbing my sore shoulder from crashing into Ichigo.

"You and your girlfriend gotta watch where you're going, eh!" The big one, Dondochakka, replied while rubbing his head.

"We aren't a couple!" I protested. "Give us a break; and _you're_ the ones that ran into me!" Ichigo continued.

The others appeared, slowing down. "What're _you_ fools doing here?" Rukia asked.

"And where's Nel?" Ichigo added.

"I dunno. We heard her screaming so we came in here looking for Nel too!" Pesche replied.

"Yeah, what he said!"

I got to my feet, looking around. "Ichigo! Look!" Chad exclaimed.

We turned, noticing a large pit with a rusty old ladder leading down. "Alright, how the _hell_ did we miss that?" I asked.

"What _is_ that?"

Uryū moved over to kneel at the side of the pit. "It's probably an air shaft or something that was built into the floor. Looks to me like she fell through when she ran by here."

"Damn, that kid sure is a handful. Why does Hueco Mundo have so many holes lying around the place?" Ichigo groaned.

"So what now?" Chad inquired as Pesche and Dondochakka shouted for Nel into the airshaft.

Ichigo sighed. "Well, it's not like we can just leave her alone to fend for herself."

"You've gotta be kidding," Renji groaned. "These guys are becoming a real pain in the butt."

"Let's do this," Ichigo said, turning to the shaft.

He made to jump inside, but I reached out to grab his arm. "Maybe I should go first… You know, wings and all," I suggested. He frowned, but moved aside when the others made noises of agreement. I sat myself on the edge, unfolding my wings from the confines of my shihakushō. I slid myself off the edge, freefalling down the shaft. I unfurled my wings completely as Nel's cries reached my ears once again. "Nel!" I called.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaax!" Her voice cried. I beat my wings as I approached the ground, touching down softly. Nel practically flew into me, clinging at my clothes and sniffing dramatically. "Nel was so scared that Ichigo and the others had left her! Nel thought she was going to die down here all alone!"

"Calm down, Nel! We aren't leaving you," I laughed.

A moment later, Ichigo appeared from the shaft. At his arrival, Nel climbed off me, turning her head indignantly away from us. "Why did you come? Nel didn't really want you to take her away with you anyway!"

"Do you have any idea how annoying you are? Stay here, I don't need you hanging around!"

At his response, Nel burst into a fresh round of tears, running over to him. "You pretended to come and save Nel, but you just came to pick on Nel!"

"Alright already, I get it, stop crying! Give me a break. I'll take you with me, okay? Better?" He paused as Nel sniffled, but then groaned as she began crying again. "Come on, what are you crying about now?"

I sighed, walking over to the pair. "Nel," I bent down to her level, intent on getting her to stop crying so we could get on with things. "If you keep crying, we won't be able to take you with us. If you wanna tag along with Ichigo, you've got to be strong, okay?"

She sniffled, but nodded her head, wiping her face with the sleeve of her gown. "Okay, just blow your nose and let's go."

"Ichigo!" Uryū yelled, landing in front of us. "Run!"

The others began landing as well, immediately taking off. Ichigo and I looked at each other, confused. "Hey, wait!" He called after Renji, who had just passed us.

My ears picked up the sound of those two weirdos from before, their screams becoming closer. I looked up, staring into the darkness above us. "Um, Nel, let's move back a bit," I suggested. She reached up for my hand, allowing me to lead her out of the danger of the opening. A moment later, the two arrancars fell through the whole, landing in a heap on top of Ichigo.

"Hey, Nel, you're safe!"

"I'm glad you're okay!"

"I wanna play too!" Nel announced, running over and jumping onto the pile.

Ichigo threw the three off of him. "Get off me! This nonsense has gotta stop-!" His yelling was interrupted by rocks falling on top of him.

"Whoa! That was close, know what I'm talkin' about?!" Dondochakka exclaimed.

"Idiots…" Ichigo grunted, bursting out of the rubble.

Rukia smirked. "Come on, let's get moving."

The others made sounds of agreement, turning away. Ichigo and I looked at each other before rushing to join them, Nel and her brothers scampering after us. "It sure is dark down here," he commented after a few minutes of walking.

"Yeah, I know. It's a good thing I'm down here!" Renji replied.

"Why? It's not like there's anything you could do about it, is there?"

We all stopped as Renji turned to speak. "Well you see, when slightly tweaked a bit, kidō can be used… like this!" He threw his hands out. "Shakkahō!"

Unfortunately, his kidō appeared to be rather… well… crap. The ball of red light was barely the size of a marble.

"Wow, that's a pretty small light you got there," Uryū commented. "Do you use it to help you find the bathroom in the middle of the night?"

I smirked. "Well, I guess performance issues happen to everyone at some point."

"You're a fool, this happened because you tried to look cool even though you aren't good at this."

"Well, don't worry about it. We'll just use that red hair of yours to guide us tonight. They even wrote a song about it once! Something about a red haired shinigami guiding a sleigh on a foggy Christmas Eve."

"Ha-ha, very funny!" Renji grumbled.

"What kind of place is this, anyway?" Ichigo asked as we began to walk again. "I mean, do you know if this place was even here before Aizen came?"

"Hm! The building above was built by Aizen-sama, but Nel doesn't know about the basement part down here."

Uryū begun his in-depth analysis of the building, but it was cut short when Dondochakka started shouting about seeing a light. The three arrancars suddenly split off from the group, running down a hallway connected to the one we were walking down.

"Hey! Wait!" Ichigo shouted after them.

We followed the arrancars down the hallway, stopping in front of what looked like a metal door. "Everything from this point on must be the newly built palace," Uryū determined. "In other words, it's not abandoned like this area is. We should try to be cautious from this point on."

With Ichigo, Renji and the three stooges, I doubted that caution would be any use for us.

"Uryū, move aside!" Ichigo commanded, drawing his zanpakutō.

Yep. I called it.

With a swipe of the large blade, Ichigo had made a sizeable opening in the wall, obliterating the door with it. The explosion shook the foundation around us a little, and the wall crumbled noisily down. I folded my arms, glancing at Uryū. "What were you saying about being _cautious_ again?"

"Ah! There's the stairs!" Ichigo proclaimed triumphantly.

"Hm… It's another door," Chad pointed out.

"All we gotta do is smash through the wall and move on!" Ichigo replied as Uryū began to berate him for the action. We followed after Ichigo as he swung at the newest obstacle. As the wall collapsed, light flooded my vision, blinding me for a moment. "Ah! We finally came to a decent looking place this time!" Ichigo said happily.

We stepped into the room, and faced our newest problem…

"A cross road," Uryū sighed.

"How do we decide which door to go through?" Renji questioned.

I looked around at the doorways, counting them. Six in total. I peered into the darkness of each doorway, but even with my raptor vision, it's hard to make anything out. I turned back to the others as Rukia spoke up. "No. Let's each go down a separate path at the same time."

We all stopped, staring at her for a moment. Ichigo was the first to react. "That's just crazy! This is Espada we're talking about here! Us all staying together as one unit will give us a better chance at standing against them! Think about it! If we become separated—,"

"Enough," Renji intervened. "It's insulting to a warrior to be concerned about his life while he's out on the battlefield," He continued.

Huh, funny. I must have missed the class that they told us about that little detail. Concern about my life is one of my main priorities during a fight.

After some more reassurance from Rukia that she would be fine and he didn't have to worry about her so much – ouch, like, I'm here as well guys, don't worry about me- Ichigo relented to the idea of splitting up.

"Good! But before we go off I think we should do a charm together!" Renji announced.

"A charm?" Ichigo asked.

"You mean like a team chant?" I added. "No thanks. I don't do the whole pom-poms thing."

Renji shot me a look. "It's a ritual that the Gotei 13 has used over the years. It's chanted before a big battle. It's fallen out of use, to be honest there aren't many squads that still do it, but I figure it's a good thing to do at a time like this." He held his arm out, looking at us expectantly. "Come on, join hands. Let's go, if I can do this, so can you."

Ichigo and I exchanged a look. He shrugged, sighing heavily. Eventually, everyone stepped forward, placing their hand on the pile. Ichigo's hand, laying on top of my own, almost completely encompassed it. Strange giant-handed ginger man.

"We at this moment head into the decisive battle. Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our hearts will not waver. And even if our paths should diverge, we all share a heart of iron. Swear that even if the ground beneath us should be rent asunder we will live and return to this place again."

With that riveting speech, we broke apart, I unfurled my wings, shooting into a free pathway.

_I'm coming for you, Iggy._

* * *

**Ahahahahah….hah…ha…ahh…**

**YES I KNOW I'M LATE GOMENASAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!**

**Just think of it as a Christmas present!**

**Ha…**

**_Antec-The Legendary Zoroark: True that, it was a very nice moment(:_**

**_WingedHero540: Ahahhaha! I hope to expand on that as much as possible, but it's so hard! I don't know how to write omakes -.-Do you know how? Thanks as always for your input and character!_**

**_AMMO121: Tsk tsk, poor Iggy. I'm not sure about the Espada thing, but yes, Iggy will probably be getting some damage done to him because of Aizen, which I'm going to hate myself for writing but oh well!_**

**_Bm18: Ohhhh Max vs those two lil turds might be fun! Thank you(:_**

**_Guest: Hahhh, I'm trying to improve with my updating, but IT DOESN'T WORK WAAAHHHH! *sob* Fortunately, because I'm going to be in VCE, I'm hopefully gonna get my shit together in 2014 so updates should become more regular_**

**_Urufushinigami: ahah, Nel is such a fun character! Sorry if the scene change gace you a bit of whiplash, and thank you for your little IERMGSHTDERNAIEGFER, because that's exactly what I do when people enjoy the story(:_**

**_Alex Wolfe: Thank you sweetie(_**

**_JJN37: The whole Max-Hitsugaya thing has been tossed back and fourth a lot to be honest, at the beginning of the story I was planning to pair her with Renji, so I guess I have to see how the story goes, but for now the main intended interest for Max will be Ichigo(: Hah, as for Orihime and Iggy, well, it might be a mix of living together in a cell and Ig's general pervyness, so I'm still debating whether or not to do a thing with him and Orihime or with Rukia.. Oh, my favourite subject? Probably sciences and drama (I can't pick one sorry I'm a dork)_**

**Stay safe, happy holidays, and fly on!**

**I'll be back with a new chapter soon!**

**-Shinigami**


	25. Holy turd on toast I updated

**_Yoooo hooo! _**

**_At this point I really have no excuse for how crap I am at updating.._**

* * *

The corridor seemed to go on forever, with no real indication that it would be stopping. As I continued to fly, my mind off worrying about several things, I spared a glance at the structure of the corridor. The ceiling was high, and supported by large beams. It was kind of strange, and reminded me of buildings in the Seireitei. Something different to the Soul Society was that we didn't have people following us in the rafters above us.

I halted, crouching on the ground with one hand on my zanpakutō as I watched the shadow move above me. "I'm alone for five minutes and I already have something following me," I complained quietly, trying to make out if my new stalker was anyone who I had seen before. The shadow paused, as if just noticing that I had stopped moving. I narrowed my eyes, staring back at the figure.

It was pretty small, almost like a kid. Now, that's creepy.

I pulled Tatsumaki out, readying the blade, but the shadow started up again, darting forwards in the direction I was going. I gave a little start of surprise, before shooting after it. I followed the trail of my anonymous companion for a few minutes before I stumbled out of the corridor, blinking my eyes against the light of the sky.

"Wait…I'm outside?"

* * *

**IGGY POV**

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, I swear! Please, Iggy, listen to me!"

I groaned softly as Orihime grabbed my wrists, taking a seat beside me on the mattress. I could almost feel her staring at me desperately. "Then why were you saying those things?"

"Because I had to!"

I sighed heavily. "This Ulquioba guy-,"

"_Ulquiorra_," she corrected.

"Japanese confuses me," I muttered, frowning. Sure learning the damn language turned out to be a good choice, but that didn't mean I didn't get confused by big words. Frequently. "Like I said. He isn't someone you can listen to, okay? Don't let him brainwash you, Orihime."

She remained quiet for a moment, letting out a loud sigh. "I'm sorry, Iggy. I didn't mean to worry you."

I sniffed indignantly. "Get over yourself, I wasn't worried."

A small giggle escaped her, and she curled up against me. The room was cold, but at least the conversations kept it warm. I was glad Orihime didn't have to spend god knows how long in this place alone.

My ears perked up at the sound of distant clashes of metal on metal. Did that mean that there was fighting going on? "Max…"

What was that about _not being worried_?

* * *

**MAX POV**

I looked around, peering back into the dark corridor for a moment. I was on some sort of walkway, high up from the ground.

Turning back around, I noticed that I was no longer alone. There was a tall… someone… standing at the other end of the walkway.

"Would you look at that, there is life here," I muttered, readying myself.

**_Be careful, gauge your opponent, _**Tatsumaki whispered, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

_Believe it or not, I could have remembered to do that by myself, _I replied. "Alright, who are you?" I shouted, raising Tatsumaki. It was a good thing I did, because a moment later the blade was clashing with another. I grunted, digging my heels into the ground as best as possible.

My hair whipped around my face as we went skidding backwards. I detached from my attacker, jumping onto the rail of the walkway with an indignant huff. _He's fast, _I noted. _But I'm faster._

**_Don't get cocky! _**Tatsumaki warned.

"What's your deal then? One of the Espada?" I asked casually, keeping a tight grip on the katana.

"No… I am a Privaron Espada, number 106: Armendáriz Akihiko," He replied slowly, staring back at me.

"Privaron, huh, haven't heard that one before," I commented. "Are you too amazing for normal Espada ranks, or are you too crap for them?"

The tall Privaron's eye twitched, he let out a huff and pushed some dark hair out of his eyes. "Nothing of the sort. Since that _bastard_ arrived and making his own new Espada, we who were formed _naturally_ have been deemed useless."

"So Aizen kicked you out because he thought he could make better models?" I clarified, tucking the information he was feeding me in the back of my mind for later. If he was making Arrancars, that could be _very_ bad for us. "Why are you attacking me then, shouldn't you be going after the guy who demoted you?"

He stared blankly at me for a moment, before shrugging. "Competition is scarce. And nobody, _nobody_, will defy Aizen. Not even those who hate him most."

"Why _not_?"

Akihiko made a noise of disgust, turning his head slightly away. "It's because Aizen is too powerful, even for us."

Making a face, I shot forward, slashing Tatsumaki in the Privaron's direction. He deflected easily, and I diverted to land a few feet away from him, clenching my teeth. "He wouldn't be if everyone wasn't so distracted by fighting each other!"

He sent me a tired look, as if he was dealing with a little kid that asked too many stupid questions, before looking away from me. "Why did you come here, shinigami?"

I watched him steadily, keeping a tight hold on Tatsumaki. "Because you took my brother."

"The disabled human is your brother?"

"He isn't _disabled_," I growled. "His senses are better than anyone I know. Why did you guys take him in the first place?!"

I caught the shift in his gaze, shadows casting over his dark eyes. "If that boy is your brother, then you are Maximum."

"What's it to you who I am?" I asked uncertainly, feeling Tatsumaki bristle defensively in my mind. Not good. _Not good_. **Not. Good**. It was the very first time that I felt anything other than a condescending calmness from Tatsumaki, the fact that even they were getting edgy from Akihiko was not doing anything to make me feel confident about my opponent.

"You are the one," He started, readying his blade. "We have been ordered to bring to Aizen-sama at all costs."

Oh, _shit._

"Hunt, Destruir."

* * *

**Iggy POV**

"Sit down, Iggy, please!" Orihime cried, latching onto my arm. I growled as the crashes became louder, my worry spiking. Max was out there, I just _knew_ it, and if she was out there then she was getting her ass handed to her; if not, we would have already returned home.

She froze in her protests as the door creaked open. I took the opportunity to both slip away from the girl and make a dash for the exit. I had to get to Max, to warn her about the Aizen-bastard.

My escape was caught short when one of the people that had entered caught me. A cold hand wrapped around my neck. "You were warned not to attempt to escape," Ulquiorra said calmly in my ear. I thrashed around, wildly beating at the junior creeper's arm, panic beginning to take over. I had to get _out_, I had to get to Max. We could make it out together.

His other hand landed on my right wing, folded against my back, and he immediately crushed the bones and feathers in his hand, ripping an agonised yell out of me before dropping me onto the ground.

"Hey! Get away from him!" Orihime cried, running forward.

"Orihime, stay there," I shouted, pulling myself up. My warning made her freeze, thankfully, because this guy didn't seem to be in the mood for holding back. As soon as I had turned back to where he stood in the doorway, I was send flying backwards, thrown back into the ground, the tiles moving and cracking from the impact. I could almost hear the bone in my wing breaking further. This time, Orihime crashed down next to me, her hand touching my hand lightly before being ripped away from me. "Orihime!"

"Iggy!" She yelped.

"Clean this mess up," Ulquiorra said over our yelling.

There was a sigh from the other side of the room after the door was slammed shut, followed by footsteps. I turned, trying my best to shield my already injured wing. "That was intense…" Asher's familiar voice commented. "Can you stand?"

"Get away from me," I growled, sliding away from him.

"If you don't get up your wing isn't going to heal, is it? Come on. If we were ordered to kill you, Ulquiorra would have finished you by now." His reasoning made me pause. He took the opportunity to grab my forearm and haul me to my feet, helping me over to the mattress. "I'm not a medic or anything," he sighed.

"What's happening out there?" I asked hesitantly as he gently unfolded my wing for me. "Why didn't he just kill me?"

"Because Aizen wants you alive," Asher replied, clicking his tongue. "There really isn't anything I can do for this. If you behave maybe Ulquiorra will bring Orihime back and she can do that thing she does, that'll fix you."

"Orihime can heal people?" I asked unsurely.

"Something like that," he replied, not sounding very sure about the details himself. "How'd you even get these?" he asked, poking at my other wing curiously.

"I was blessed with not only opportunist parents, but also a whole team of mad scientists dedicated to making me what I am today. The same with Max," I replied bitterly. "H-Hey, is it her fighting outside? Please, I gotta know."

Asher sighed heavily, pausing his inspection of my wings. "I believe it is, as well as others. They sure are putting up a fight to save you."

"Huh, well at least they're here for me, too; I was beginning to think I'd have to mutate myself a pair of big ol' boobies in order to get saved from here. I don't like the damsel in distress thing, but if it gets me out of here, I'll take it."

"I'm surprised this is your first escape attempt," he commented.

I shrugged indifferently. "I didn't know where I was or if anyone was coming to get me, it seemed fine to play house with a babe for a while. But now I guess I have to get serious."

"…Play house with a… babe?" he repeated, followed by some sort of amused snort. He stepped away from me, walking towards the exit. "I'll try my best to get the _babe_ back; she should be able to heal you in no time."

I laughed tensely at his jeer. "Yeah, thanks…"

* * *

**MAX POV**

I jumped back again, watching Akihiko's blade slam into the space I had been standing on. It flew back into his waiting hand, and the small spot on the ground exploded, leaving a large hole. "Well crap, that's handy," I commented. _Too bad __you__ don't do that, Tatsumaki._

**_"Give it a rest, Max. No zanpakutō will be the same."_**

I glanced down at the elongated blade of my shikai with a frown. _You don't even do anything; you just look cool and give me some adrenaline rush. _Tatsumaki sighed heavily as I dodged Akihiko's attack again.

**_"You've had shikai for how long, exactly? A few weeks? Do you really expect to know how to use me to the fullest already?"_**

_Well, if you feel like sharing some nifty tricks to keep me alive, you're free to share, _I replied, growing annoyed at the amount of explosions occurring. "Hey! Stop doing that already, at this rate the walkway is going to collapse!"

"That's no problem to me," he replied simply, reaching his hand out to receive the blade, which landed in his palm a few moments later.

_If I can land an attack while his zanpakutō is returning to him, he'll be off guard, right? But how can I get close enough __and__ land a decent hit in that amount of time?_

**"There are long distance attacks for times like this, Max. Honestly, it's like you have no faith in us at all."**

I paused, shocked by the static-like noise that filled my head. _What the hell, Tatsumaki?_

**"Not Tatsumaki. Go ahead, pour your reiryoku into the zanpakutō and take a swing at him when his sword is stuck in the ground," **the new, gravelly voice said. I clenched my teeth, unsure what to think of the voice, but followed the advice. After narrowly dodging Akihiko's sword, I focused my energy into the blade and sliced downwards through the air. A shot of dark…something… flew from the blade, shooting out towards him. It connected, sending Akihiko shooting backwards into the railing of the walkway. He shot back up immediately; the area around his should smouldering and looked to be bleeding.

"That's more like it," I said slowly, readying myself. Akihiko threw his zanpakutō towards me, I focused my reiryoku into my own sword and clashed against the attack, pushing backwards as the impact caused another explosion mid-air. _Hey, I didn't die!_

I almost felt like I wasn't even controlling my actions as I began a retaliation. A huge grin made it's way onto my face as I slashed at the arrancar, bursts of dark energy flying in different directions as he deflected and combatted the swings.

**_"MAX! Stop this, you shouldn't be able to do that!" _**

_…Tatsumaki? What do you mean, if that's right why can I do it?_

I faltered at Tatsumaki's words, giving an opening to Akihiko, who promptly sent me flying with a long gash down my right shoulder. "Gah!" After crashing to the ground, I glanced up, straining to keep myself up, the gash _burned_.

Akihiko stepped over to me, readying his sword as I grasped around, looking for mine. It was a good twenty feet in the other direction. "You are going to pay for that little power trip, Maximum. Aizen will learn to forgive what I'm going to do."

Akihiko raised his arm above him, pausing for a second to look somewhere past my head. I kicked upwards, aiming for his jaw, but nothing connected. I fell back to the ground as Akihiko went flying backwards, into the darkness of the corridor I had come from.

Scrambling up, I ran over to Tatsumaki, brandishing the katana as I began to shunpo in the opposite direction to the fight, avoiding the large craters in the walkway made by our fight. Even as I ran, I could hear the distant sounds of metal on metal and growling. The door wouldn't budge under my grip, so I opted for launching myself off the walkway, unfurling my wings on the way down.

With a few beats of my wings I was above the walkway, but still close enough to see the small arrancar that emerged from the darkness, a hollow mask that looked like some sort of animal skull on the top half of their face. I circled cautiously, holding Tatsumaki close, as the small arrancar lifted a hand and pulled the mask back, setting it on top of the mess of brown hair.

The arrancar looked up at me, holding my gaze. I froze, my breathing stopped, the only thing keeping me up was the robotic movement of my wings.

_No way._

"…Ari?"

* * *

_I HATE WRITING FIGHT SCENES THEY WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME WHY DID I PICK TWO ACTION BASED FANDOMS TO WRITE ABOUT I HATE MYSELF_

**Ocean's Oracion: BWAHAHAHAH!**

**Zero Von Hellsing: Here you go!**

**Guest: omfg this shows how long it takes for me to update, I suck. Thank you though.**

**urufushinigami: Aw thank you(: I love Iggy, pervert or not. It was painful to write this actually. Hahah! I wonder about Ichigo and Max's relationship as well, too bad I have no idea what's going on there either**

**Guest#2: Thank you! Aha, I'm pretty terrible at my science-based subjects this year, so you aren't alone there! Thanks for the review!**

**WingedHero540: Well, I guess you could say he just made his appearance. Also, I hope Asher is in character to your satisfaction(: Thank you for letting me use such a nice character, I hope I don't disappoint**

**Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: HELLA. The fights will get better I promise.**

**Later-laters!**


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